Night Crawlers
by ThaWriterzSoundtrack
Summary: The Salvatore's realize Mystic Falls has fallen prey to Night Crawlers and it's left to Damon and a certain witch to restore peace. Can they put their hate aside long enough to work as a team? BAMON!
1. Ease My Pain

**TITLE:** Night Crawlers

**SPOILERS:** From 'Fool Me once' onward.

**RATINGS:** Adult content

**CHARACTERS:** Bonnie, Damon, Stefan, Elena, Jeremy, Matt, Caroline, Aunt Jenna, Anna & Tyler. Laila Benjamin & Uri

**A/N:** This is my first ever Vampire Diary story, Damon/Bonnie. Depending how this one turns out I might not be able to stop. It was 4am and as corny as it sounds, I daydreamed a whole scene between Bamon to the song wanna know what love is by foriegner *ducks* I love them. Anyway, I'm just going with the flow on this one. It IS a Damon/Bonnie fic but I will be incorporating the other storylines...Stefan/Elena, Matt/Caroline etc

**SUMMARY:** Some call them human slaves, while others refer to them as familiars. Those who believe and want to become a vampire are given chances to prove themselves to the leader. Soon they are terrifying Mystic falls, clearly after something or someone and won't stop until they get it.

Night Crawlers

1. Ease my Pain

_Out of time, I hear your voice break through the noise, and pain, my hearts refrain. Will you please ease my pain_ ~ Declan Flynn

Pulling the hoody over her head, Laila leaned over her bed stuffing the pillows underneath the sheets to make it look like she was sleeping and then crept out of her window. Walking down the deathly quiet streets, Paranoia had Laila whipping her head around to see if she was still alone every other step, her hallucinations weren't out of the ordinary so the fog slowly forming around her though creepy, couldn't be real or so she reasoned.

Laila felt her left arm go instantly numb as fingers gripped her but before she could let out a scream or throw a kick, her mouth was covered by a hand and she was being dragged from the openness the streetlights offered and pulled into the darkness of the shadows. Her heart started to pump so fast and so hard that it hurt her chest but she was too weak to struggle or put up a fight, and while others would be thinking about never seeing their family again with their life flashing before their eyes, she was left with nothing but the moment.

Laila squeezed her eyes shut and when she opened them again her friend was laughing at her, her very hot about to be dead friend.

"How cute," He breathed. "Trying to kick,"

A tear came to the corner of her eye, as she leaned against the tree trying to get her breath back. "Jerk,"

"That's what you get for sneaking out so late, all alone braveheart," He smiled that brilliant white smile that Laila had grown to love so much.

"I have my pepper spray," She boasted, tapping her pocket.

He chuckled, taking a step closer to her. "Yeah, cause it saved your arse just now didn't it, princess?"

A smile twitched at her lips, she hadn't known him long, he'd just started at her school but due to illness Laila had missed his rise to school fame; however, she hadn't missed his entrance and the two had become friends. Uri was his name, Uri Osborne, British guy with a chip on his shoulder and a suaveness none of the jocks in school could begin to imitate. Laila had found herself wondering what he'd seen in her, she was just a simple girl, with a few good friends, she wasn't exactly swimming in the popularity pool. Nope, she'd been the girl who attended church every Sunday religiously, helped her parents around the house and tried to get her homework done, sometimes. Why was he with her in the woods? Why had he chosen her out of all the pretty semi-brain dead girls in her school?

Uri smirked as though he were reading her thoughts, riddled with insecurities. "Laila Elliot Benjamin, the girl who's never been kissed, the odd one,"

"How would you…"

"I'm a mind reader," He answered, eyes unwavering.

Laila tried to concentrate on what he was saying but found her focus being drawn to the thickening of the fog, usually her hallucinations involved Vampires, Demons & the Chucky doll trying to get her. Laila always had a wild imagination, though being in Mystic falls before all the animal attacks made it hard to imagine anything out of the painfully ordinary. She shook her head to clear the fog but it only lingered closer, making her feel cold.

"Do you see that?" She asked aloud, slapping her palm on her forehead for forgetting to think about the crazy and not share it with the sane, the last thing she needed was the cute guy in school thinking she was nine buckets of it.

"See what?" Uri whispered, reaching over to brush the loose strands of hair from her face. "The fog?"

Laila furrowed a brow, tilting her head to the side at his uninterrupted calmness. "You see it, you can see the fog?"

Uri nodded, biting his lower lip. "Of course I can see it silly, I'm the one doing it,"

Laila pushed off the tree finally, but quickly found she couldn't move much further than Uri's chest. "What are you doing?"

Pushing is full lips out in thought, he moved in momentarily to smell Laila's neck. "Shame, I really like you, you're...different?" Uri ducked down a little, so their eyes were level. "I wish I could help you out with your little problem too, but, ahh well," His eyes went bloodshot and the veins protruded from his face. "Can't have em' all, right?"

Bringing her hands to her sides, Laila tapped around her pockets freezing when he held the pepper spray up to his face. "Uri what's wrong with you? Your face..." she cried.

"Don't worry love, it will only hurt a lot," He whispered, before curling his fingers around her exposed neck and letting his fangs descend to puncture her pretty flesh.

Laila tried to scream but with his fingers tightly wrapped around her neck, it died on her lips.

There are stages of grief, I'm not sure how many, I don't really care. I just don't want anyone telling me I'll be okay, or that this is okay, I don't need to know that bad things happen for a reason. And, finally, I will swing for the first person who tells me she's in a better place.

I can't say goodbye yet, I'm not ready to...

Bonnie hadn't cried since that night, since she'd found her grams laying in front of her, so peaceful and serene, like it was a choice and one she was happy with at that. How could that be? She wasn't supposed to go, she wasn't ready to, there was so much Bonnie still had to learn from her, it wasn't fair.

Elena kept her head down, eyes fixed on the dirt covering the golden plaque that had grams inscription on it "Heart of Gold, Soul of magic," a single tear escaped down her drawn face as she searched out Bonnie's hand and entwined her fingers with her best friend's. Everyone Bonnie cared about was there; Stefan stood close but was careful not to stand out and blended into the background of family and friends.

A feeling at the back of his neck caused him to whip his head around and search out the feeling outside of the small crowd of people but he saw nothing, no-one.

Caroline stood shoulder pressed to Matt's, eyes wandering ceaselessly while his fixed on Bonnie's vacant stare as the reverend spoke of Sheila's shrewd but irrevocable love and unwavering loyalty for those she cared about. Jeremy was there too, he'd been around Bonnie longer than he could talk and couldn't help but feel her loss through Elena, he held on to Aunt Jenner waiting for Bonnie to look up from the lowered coffin so he could smile and show her that everyone cared. She never looked up.

Bonnie hadn't even managed a smile when her grams favourite song 'Sinner man' by Nina Simone droned on in the background while her Eulogy was read out, not once did Elena leave her best friend's side and she never would. It didn't matter that Bonnie wasn't saying anything, to everyone else on the outside of Bonnie's world she looked far away, like she was simply gazing at something that either interested or baffled her, but Elena knew where Bonnie was, she knew by the way the petite witch hadn't stopped squeezing her hand.

It rained that day, harder than it ever had before and Elena couldn't help wondering, if Bonnie had somehow unconsciously influenced the darkness in the sky that now loomed over Mystic falls, over all of them. Who was to blame for this? None of them? All of them? Was Grams going to die anyway and the spell just hurried it along was it just the spell?

The people soon dispersed to continue the service at Grams house but Bonnie found herself paralyzed and staring into the grave waiting for her, the one who'd practically raised her to jump out of the grave and be all right again. She was a powerful witch after all, how could this be real, how could this actually be happening? Questions, more than anyone could answer swam around Bonnie's already cluttered head, with the gaping hole in her chest growing bigger with each unanswered.

Elena reassured Bonnie's father and returned to Bonnie's side, hugging her still form tight as the tears resurfaced to see her best friend, her sister in such a state, it tore Elena apart. Eventually she managed to get her out of the rain and into the car, and the only time Bonnie spoke was to request they go to hers instead of Grams, she didn't want to be there with everyone else, she didn't want them to say goodbye or ask _her_ to. Maybe Grams would come to her like Emily had; she had to see her again, even if she had to conjure a spell to do it.

Elena did as Bonnie asked and she didn't speak again for the rest of the day, Elena brought her a hot water bottle and crawled into bed beside her, resting her head on Bonnie's shoulder. "I'll always be here for you, always Bonnie," she whispered.

"_We're not strong enough, even if we were able to bring the seal down, there's no guarantee that we could get it back up again,"_

_"Help me, or I'll do it alone," Bonnie said, holding the spell book._

Bonnie jerked forward, looking beside her to find Elena fast asleep, head buried in the pillow with a peacefulness overtaking her face. Softly pulling back the blanket she slowly slipped out of bed and out of the house, she knew where she was going. Arms wrapped tightly around herself, Bonnie felt a presence but her eye never caught it, the feeling only went away once she was inside Grams house and alone, completely alone.

Bonnie tiptoed into her Grams room as though being careful not to wake her, Grams was a light sleeper, nothing got past her, no one got in or out without her knowing about it. The young witch's heart sunk to her feet as she saw the empty bed, her body started to tremor until she was no longer able to hold herself up and landed where she'd shakily stood.

"Grams," she whispered with a shaky breath. "Please, if you can hear me..." Bonnie's tongue flicked out wetting her bottom lip and then her teeth pressed against it momentarily. "Do you think you could--could you try and make it back to me, please? For a little while longer, I need you and I'm not ready to let you go, I'm not ready to do this, face this alone. Grams I can't do this without you, I..." Bonnie's eyes searched the room as she longed to feel the presence of her world come back and comfort her but there was nothing, nothing but silence surrounding her, no static, no warmth, and no love. Bonnie's Grams wasn't coming back. "What am I gonna do without you?"

She noticed the cardigan was neatly folded on the pillow, the last thing her Grams had worn and as Bonnie reached out for it her breath left her, the tears began trailing down her face and before she could reel the emotions back in she was crying without restraint. Slowly she leaned against the carpeted floor, holding the cardigan close to her face as her body jerked with an overwhelming surge of emotions blurred into one, rippling through her entire body. "I can—"

_"Yes you can baby, you can do this," Grams reassured, stroking Bonnie's unruly curls from her face._

_Bonnie's chin trembled delicately. "But Grams, I need you,"_

_"And you have me," She smiled, placing her hand on Bonnie's heart. "Right here, baby and I ain't ever going away, you hear?"_

_"What do I do when I'm scared, when I don't know what to do?" Bonnie cried._

_"You listen to your heart and you follow your gut, they won't steer you wrong,"_

_Bonnie clutched her chest, a stray tear falling as she did. "When will the pain stop, Grams?"_

_Gram's smiled faded and her brows now drawn cast a shadow over her face. "Only when you're ready to let go of it,"_

_There was a moment of silence where Bonnie questioned whether it was all real, if her Grams had really answered her. "What about when I need to talk to you, or when..."_

_"Hush, child," Grams cooed, brushing Bonnie's tears away with her thumb. "All you have to do is think of me, I'll always be around to listen to my sweet baby,"_

_Bonnie threw herself into her Gram's arms, holding her with fierceness as though if she held her tight enough she wouldn't able to go anywhere, ever. "I can't do this without you, I can't be as good a witch as you were, or Emily,"_

_"No, you'll be better," Her smile was wide and her eyes full of pride, as though she knew a secret that was just too juicy to reveal, not when Bonnie learning it by herself was what would make it worthwhile._

_"How do you know?"_

_"Because I know my Grandbaby," Grams pulled away to look Bonnie in the eye. "Better than she does. I know what you are capable of and what you can and will be to Mystic falls, and all those within it." She kissed her granddaughter's forehead. "It wasn't your fault," She added, with a whisper._

_"Grams," Bonnie said with urgency as she seemed to be further away than she was a minute ago, she could feel her comfort blanket being ripped from underneath her and the cold blowing in after it to remind her that she would be alone._

_"Trust yourself, the rest will follow,"_

_"Don't leave,"_

_"I'm not leaving baby, I haven't gone anywhere," Grams smiled. "Out of sight but not out of mind, I love you baby,"_

_Bonnie sniffled. "I love you Grams,"_

Bonnie stirred, she could feel her hair being brushed away gently but didn't want to wake up from the comfort of her Grams. "Grams," She muttered, taking a sharp breath a second later as her skin went cold forcing her to wake and sit up sharp-eyed. Bonnie looked down at the blanket over her and then down at the spot on the floor where she'd sworn she'd landed, she must've crawled up to the bed. The room was empty and it was still dark outside but the lingering feeling of her Grams presence lulled her back to sleep with the cardigan still close to her chest.

She hoped, prayed that in the morning something would ease her pain because it would take more than a dream to make her all better, or another visit.

The moon glowed eerily, reflecting boldly only on the vampire's shades when he glanced up, grin annoyingly smug. Uri walked up the driveway of Laila's house, wiping the blood from his mouth with his sleeve before knocking on it, he cracked his neck and then cleared his throat putting his head down as the door opened in front of him.

"Hello,"

Uri looked up slowly, the smile appearing on his face slow and deliberate. "Hello, Mrs. Benjamin, you're looking lovely this evening,"

Claudia pulled her robe together and pushed her frizzy hair back, feeling anything but lovely. "Uh, thank you Uri. I'm afraid Laila hasn't been feeling too well, she's gone to bed early,"

"Oh?" Uri looked behind him, chuckling lightly. "I'm so embarrassed, I wish she'd called me back,"

"She called you?" Claudia glanced over her shoulder again, a little embarrassed that she hadn't checked in on Laila since the night before. Working double shifts at the supermarket was not fun but she had a living to make for the both of them. Claudia had been getting home and zoning out on the sofa wearing nothing but a gown, she wasn't exactly 2010's best mom but she was trying.

"Yeah, five minutes ago she asked if I could come see her," Uri held up his bag. "I even brought homework, I think I've been blown off,"

Claudia frowned, looking over her shoulder momentarily. "Oh, uh let me just go check on her,"

"I could do that," Uri said, with a slight eagerness.

"That's okay, I'll do it," Leaving the door to swing wider open she walked back into the house towards Laila's room. "Come in Uri, it's too cold out," She called out over her shoulder.

Uri smiled, eyeing the door frame before stepping in one foot after the other, he sighed, highly satisfied with himself and closed the door shut. "Thank you Mrs. Benjamin, that's very kind of you,"

~ Fin ~


	2. A Bad Dream

**A/N:** Thank you for the AMAZING reviews, I'm floored, absolutely so. To Impress as you're not a registered member this is the only way I can reply, thank you for the review AND your suggestion, ffnet clumped it up as I double space but you're right, a few stars will do. I apologize in advance for Uri, he has major unresolved issues, is very creepy at times and not cuddly. I don't think he's very likeable, though I can't help loving him, a little.

After a request to see what my Uri looked like, I've attached a link to the end of this chapter!

~ Noa

2. A Bad Dream

_I was fighting- But I just feel too tired - To be fighting - Guess I'm not the fighting kind._

_Where will I meet my fate? - Baby I'm a man, I was born to hate - And when will I meet my end? - In a better time you could be my friend_ ~ Keane

_"Last I saw her was Chicago, 1983, she knew where you were Damon," Anna gripped her mother tight, eyes never leaving his. "She didn't care, I'm sorry,"_

Never had Damon been so determined as he was when he decided to bring Katherine back, he didn't care the cost and Mystic Falls could be human collateral for all her cared. He knew Katherine loved him; so he made the personal choice to become what she was so they could be together, that was enough motivation for him to do what needed to be done. For once someone had loved Damon and he wasn't gonna let that go for anybody.

But it wasn't true; none of it was or ever had been and Ana made that clear when he found her in the motel room with her mother. All that fire inside of him that burned for her, died slow and painfully in his gut, years of commitment and devotion and now he was just there in the boarding house alone. Damon already gave his life, lived over a century waiting to get it back and be with the woman he sacrificed everything for, including his relationship with Stefan but now she was gone he had nothing to focus on, live for, he had no purpose. Now he was just existing.

Stefan walked past the living room having to do a double take when he saw Damon lounging on the couch in a daze, though Damon would swap that descriptive for deep in thought. Since they'd found out Katherine wasn't in the tomb, since that night they'd sat in front of the fire in silence, Damon had gone on as normal, like he wasn't as affected as he first let on. The sarcasm, jokes and teasing continued, him threatening to eat half of Mystic falls continued and that smirk never left his face but the delivery was lacking passion, and when Damon forgot to be a monster, Stefan saw the old Damon, the one he'd forgotten existed and since the tomb he'd been seeing glimpses of a defeated, very _lost_ soul, his brother. Of course once Damon realized where he was and who he was with he'd pull his game face out and slipped it back on.

Stefan stepped into the living room, placing his bag down by the door frame and Damon still hadn't noticed. "I was thinking I could come home straight after school, maybe...Damon?" He called, waving his hand in front of the older vampire's face.

Damon frowned, still deep in his own thought.

"Damon!"

The older vampire tilted his head, and turned to Stefan, rolling his shoulders back now irritated. "What do you want, pocket money?"

"I was saying, you know what it doesn't matter," Unzipping his jacket, Stefan pulled it off and crossed the room to pour them a glass of whisky. He never believed Damon was a complete monster, even though he'd told himself over and again like a mantra, it never really sunk in and now Katherine was out of the picture he was hoping something would show in Damon, like his humility and vulnerability for human life or even just for himself.

Damon stood up, a signature smirk warming his finely chiseled face. "What are you doing? Did Elena break up with you, because I told her we'd never work out,"

Stefan brought the glass up to Damon's face, ignoring the last comment. "Here,"

"Don't you have school?" Damon asked, brushing past him to pour his own drink.

"I'm lying low for a while, but I'm gonna go in late and check in on Elena,"

"Oh God, please tell me you're not staying to comfort me?" Damon clutched his chest. "What have the cows and goats done to you?"

"We're still brothers,"

"Since when?" He asked bitterly, before taking a swig of his whisky to recover. "You know what you're right Stefan, I need you, I'm barely holding myself together here," Damon crossed the room to stand in front of Stefan and placed his head on his brother's shoulder. "Please, hold me?"

Stefan pushed Damon as he burst into laughter and rolled his eyes, Katherine rejected Damon and no matter how adamant he was about playing it down, he knew better. He wasn't going to tell Damon 'I told you so' but couldn't help wondering where Damon's head was at, because he knew this was a big deal.

Damon strolled off, turning back to wave an accusing finger at his brother. "Oh, I get what this is. You want to make sure I'm good boy,"

"Whatever Katherine's done, you can't take it out on Mystic Falls, it's not fair,"

"Ah Stefan, Mystic Falls' local hero… You know I'm tempted to make you a special shirt, saying Sav-i-or Salvatore," Damon snorted as he walked past with the drink in his hand. "Later,"

The door closed and only then did Damon's smile fade, he placed his glass down and slipped his arms through his leather jacket before super speeding out the door. Stefan didn't even want him, couldn't show him genuine concern for longer than five minutes because he was too busy playing guardian to Mystic Falls. If Katherine didn't know what a good thing she had then that was her issue, he was gonna prove he was wanted, there was a time not too long ago where Caroline couldn't get enough and that witch, she played scared but there was always something in her eyes and it wasn't always fear.

***

_"There there, no need to cry," The olive skinned guy said, stroking the tears away from the young woman's face and twisting his own as her nose ran. His hair was dark brown, almost black and stopped at his shoulders and while his face was handsome and his voice was velvet his eyes were pitch black._

_He had an English accent and spoke slow and steady, even with the woman's constant whimpering and pleading. Uri simply smiled at her requests and left her to cry, giving Bonnie his back he paused and Bonnie found herself panicking as she was suddenly unable to move, even with the sickeningly strong feeling that he'd turn around and see her._

"_Hello there," He said, turning to Bonnie with his black shiny eyes._

Bonnie sat forward, turning to find she was in bed alone but before she had the chance to panic she heard the toilet flush. Turning over, Bonnie settled back underneath the sheets and closed her eyes once more, she had the most odd dreams sometimes, though something about him was very wrong there also something very calling to her.

***

Bonnie stood in front of the mirror, coaching herself the way she imagined Elena had for their first day back to school but she'd been off a week already, and that was long enough, Bonnie knew if she didn't go back to school now, today, by tomorrow she wouldn't know how to. Taking a deep breath, she pushed her unruly curls away from her face and left the bathroom greeted by Elena's reassuring smile.

"Ready to go?" Elena asked as she joined Bonnie standing, she knew more than anyone how grating the words 'are you okay?' could be, especially when the answer was obvious. There was the answer that people wanted to hear so they could go on with their day guilt free, and then there was the truth, Bonnie wasn't okay and she wouldn't be for a long time.

Bonnie nodded meekly and followed Elena down the stairs and out the door to her car, she'd been staying there and luckily Aunt Jenner was more than willing to put her up. Elena wanted Bonnie where she could keep an eye on her, after waking up and losing her mind with worry to find Bonnie gone it was a relief to find her at Grams safe and sound. The trip seemed to drone on like a bad song, it was always the bad songs that stayed in your head while the good ones were harder to remember, and that was how the day felt before it even begun.

In real time, they were at school quicker than she'd prepared for and Bonnie wasn't sure if she was ready to pretend until she opened the door and was rushed by Caroline and Matt, she was almost relieved that the choice was taken out of her hands.

"Oh, come here," Caroline cried, pulling the petite witch into her arms.

Elena smiled but she found herself wondering what she'd done not to deserve the same treatment when _she_ got back to school, was there a grudge between them she didn't know about? Sure she got a hug like Bonnie but there was a difference in delivery. Still, all the support being offered to her best friend outweighed whatever worries she had lingering around.

Bonnie peeled herself from the pretty blonde's embrace to put on her well rehearsed smile. "I'm fine, really,"

Matt stepped into Caroline's space, waiting for her to take the hint and move back a step for him to speak to Bonnie, and was appreciative when she did. "Hey,"

Bonnie looked up at him, she was ready to fall apart already and she hadn't even hit the halls yet. "Hey," She gulped. "I'm okay, Matt," Bonnie added with a quivering smile when she saw him trying to look deeper than the surface.

Matt nodded and put his arm around her shoulder. "Okay, but when you're not okay I'm here, I know you've got Elena and Caroline but uh, I'm your friend too okay?"

"Thanks Matt,"

"Let me walk you to class," Matt smiled down at her and gave her shoulder a squeeze when she nodded in response.

Caroline hooked arms with Elena and the two followed behind Matt and Bonnie. Stefan watched from behind the tree, unsure of how to approach the grieving witch as she hadn't spoken him since the funeral. He couldn't blame her for avoiding him, she'd pushed Sheila to do the spell so that they could get _him_ out, and in return she lost her Grams, Stefan knew he could never make it up to her, nothing could compensate for her family.

***

Matt and Elena at different times in class looked over at Bonnie, neither was really paying attention and it wasn't something they'd discussed to do, it was just, well it was Bonnie and they had to watch out for her.

The day was almost over; it went along like a dream sequence where everything was incredibly surreal, the knowledge of Grams not being home where Bonnie visited religiously for a glass of lemonade and a chat hung heavy on everyone close to her.

For Bonnie, Alaric's history class went vertiginously with her Grams voice tuning in and out of her head like a bad signal, she could see Alaric's mouth moving but she couldn't hear him because she was too busy hearing herself make Grams do another spell. "I'm sorry,"

Alaric came towards her in slow motion, his eyes showing sympathy, she hadn't realized that she'd spoke aloud. Whipping her head around she noticed the whole class watching her, glaring into her like they knew what _she'd_ done, like they all _knew_ the only reason her Grams was dead was because of _her_.

"Bonnie," Elena said softly, as she reached out.

As Bonnie's vision blurred with emotion she started shaking her head vigorously, repeating 'no' in her head over and over again, their stares, their voices, their thoughts, she couldn't take it anymore. Her Grams was wrong about her, she wasn't made for this, she couldn't handle the pressure of being a witch with no-one to lean on or guide her.

"Bonnie are you okay?" Alaric asked as she rushed to her feet with urgency.

Elena stood too. "Bonnie, it's okay,"

Bonnie rushed out of the classroom and Alaric put his hand up to stop Elena going after her, once she was back in her seat he headed into the hallway to find Stefan in her path, he gulped hard as he pictured Stefan in his classroom, remembered the conversation, the threat. Bonnie wasn't in any danger, he'd seen her with Elena and Elena was Stefan's girlfriend.

The young vampire looked up at the teacher and gave him a nod, waiting for him to disappear back into the classroom before he focused his attention on Bonnie. He lowered his gaze so that they were eye in eye and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Bonnie..."

She looked ahead of him, tears falling soundlessly down her face. "I thought I could do it, Stefan."

"Do what?" He whispered.

Bonnie placed a hand over his. "I thought I would be okay, this morning I was ready to come to school and be normal, but I can't..." She looked into his eyes. "Can I?"

Stefan shook his head. "You don't have to worry about being alone Bonnie, you have your dad and Elena, and all your friends, you won't always feel this way,"

"I have to go," she muttered.

"Bonnie,"

"No, Stefan I need to be alone. Just, leave me alone," she said, pulling his hand away from her shoulder.

Stefan watched her run down the hall, and it was safe to say guilt was now plaguing him, though he wasn't the one who wanted Katherine out of that Tomb he still helped. And if it wasn't for him being with Elena they all knew that Bonnie and her Grams never would've helped in the first place.

***

Bonnie rushed right into Damon's arms, pulling back as soon as she realized it was him, he was the main reason her Grams was dead. She tried to divert from his path but was yanked back into his chest, she looked up at him, her green eyes showing contempt which didn't go unnoticed by the vampire.

He smirked in response, holding his hands up in mock surrender.

"Why are you here?"

"That's obvious, to see you Bonnie," He smiled. "Your grams was…"

"Don't ever talk about her,"

"Okay, let's talk about us," He said, moving closer and knowing full well he was making the witch cringe, among other things.

Bonnie pulled her cardigan together and crossed her arms over her chest, though jumpy she'd be damned if she was gonna show him she was still scared of him, after what he did, she would never give him the satisfaction again. "Just stay away from me, or I swear..."

Damon smiled, pressing his palms together and bowing. "Got it, stay away from you, fire kills," He watched her go only to turn back and find Stefan standing inches from his face. "For someone who only feeds on the furry, you're getting better at sneaking up on people,"

"What are you doing here, Damon?"

"Can't a guy out of the kindness of his heart just bring his little brother some lunch?" He answered, feigning utter horror at his brother's unduly attitude towards him. He tried not to laugh as Stefan looked down at his empty hands. "Okay, so I don't come baring gifts or Tuna sandwiches which I know are your favorite," He winked then. "But I do come baring potentially the worst news yet,"

Stefan watched Damon intently for a moment, and saw that his cockiness had calmed some before deciding that he believed him. "What is it?"

"Maybe a dozen bodies found in the space of a week,"

"Animal attacks?" Stefan asked, though he knew better.

"Animal attacks, vampire attacks, it's all the same thing, right?" Damon watched the space Bonnie had been in moments before, glancing back at his brother with a mischievous grin. "My money's on the grieving witch,"

"Damon,"

Tsk. Stefan was no fun. "The sheriff seems to think so, said she's been tryna get hold of me. Anyway I was bored, said I'd check it out,"

"Damon," Stefan said with a faint smile. "Mystic Falls' local hero,"

"Nah uh," Damon chuckled, waving a finger. "Mystic Falls is _my_ sandbox, and you know how well I play with others,"

Stefan looked back as the bell rang and it wasn't long before Elena came running out with her chocolate brown hair blowing off her shoulders, almost frantic in her search for Bonnie until she saw the brothers.

Stefan turned to Damon. "Don't say anything, I don't wanna worry her,"

"Tsk tsk, secrets are never good for a relationship," Damon teased, leaning against someone's car with his arms folded.

"She's got enough to worry about with Bonnie,"

Damon shrugged, eyes a little wide that Stefan hadn't notice him _not_ caring. "Whatever,"

"Hey," Elena said against Stefan's lips as she kissed him. "Damon," she added.

"Elena,"

"Have you seen Bonnie?"

"Oh yeah, uh she was just thanking me for giving her the best _worst_ nightmares she's ever had," Damon interrupted, eyes rolling to the sky in thought. "Was that…yeah, that was it,"

"Her Grams is dead, Damon!" Elena hissed.

"His joking," Stefan said, standing in her way so that she could focus on him instead; he pointed over his shoulder to where he'd seen Bonnie rush off. "She went that way,"

"This is our fault, Stefan," Elena said, glaring at Damon who stood just behind his brother. "_All_ of us," she empathised before kissing Stefan's cheek. "I've gotta go, I'll call you,"

"Elena," Stefan called, pulling her back for another kiss. "Be careful, okay? Don't stay out too late,"

"Yes dad," She frowned, sliding her hand down his chest and turning away to head after Bonnie.

"Bet you loved that," Damon smirked. "Yes dad," He mimicked.

"What did you say to Bonnie?" Stefan asked, mirthlessly.

Damon snorted, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm seriously starting to wonder if you're bi-polar,"

"What did you say, Damon?"

"I didn't say anything, she was the one doing all the talking, or threatening, whatever she thought that was,"

"Leave her alone, I'm not asking you. I know you want to...lash out over Katherine," He paused as the muscles in Damon's jaw jogged. "But you have to move on, I won't let you punish Bonnie or anyone else,"

Damon found himself fighting to keep his anger in control, he wasn't going to let Stefan or Katherine ruin his day, today was about him having fun and maybe killing a vampire or two. "Tell it to Oprah," He said, deadpan. "Now are you coming or not?"

Stefan nodded slightly. "What's the plan?"

"When have you ever known me to plan anything, brother?" He glanced at Stefan, a small smile twitching at his lips. "We find these vampires and we end them,"

"Vampires?"

"_One _vampire? It's not likely,"

"You can feed on more in less time,"

"That's because I'm me," Damon exasperated, slightly offended.

"Either this guy is really hungry, or there _is_ more than one and if there's more than one then..."

"Then Mystic falls in more than misdemeanour trouble," Damon wriggled his eyebrows.

"How many?"

"I don't know, two, three maybe,"

"Let's go," Stefan looked around, making sure no-one was watching before speeding into the woods.

"Oh joy, my brother has a superhero complex," Damon sped into the woods after him.

***

Uri stood in the middle of Claudia's living room, sighing with satisfaction as blood dripped from his paled lips and stained his brilliant white teeth. The power rippled through him every time he fed on human blood, his eyes were like black marble glistening in the light as he threw his back. A smile graced his full pink lips as he dropped the young woman onto the floor, Uri glanced over his shoulder at a horror-stricken Claudia who sat tied to the radiator with tear stained cheeks and a runny nose.

"Ah, the satisfaction," He sighed, wiping the blood with the pad of his thumb. "You really should try it Claudia, I thought Pink lemonade was good..." He slowly walked to the girl who'd stood behind him while he fed and held his hand up to her.

Claudia squeezed her eyes shut as the girl wrapped her lips around his bloody thumb and wiped the blood away with her tongue.

"Aw Claudia, you're such a party pooper. I promise to keep it strictly NC-17, oh wait, is that the highest rating?" Walking over to Claudia, Uri kneeled down in front of her, pushing frizzy curls away so he could see her face. "Laila is better off where she is, believe me love, do I look like the type to lie?" He smiled, swiping his tongue over his pointy canines. "You don't like this mug of mine do you?"

Uri stood up and relaxed his face and when Claudia opened her eyes again, the fangs and veins were gone and he was handsome again. "Thank you," she whimpered.

"Anything for you darling, after all you are letting us camp out in your home, not willing but still," Uri turned back to his people, the night crawlers, _twelve _men and women maybe more crowding Claudia Benjamin's living room. They stood encircling Uri with their heads down, heavily hooded and waiting for orders. Familiars, the ones who ran around, trapping their own for vampire's to feed on hoping one day they'd be turned into one too.

"As nice as uh, what was her name?" He asked, motioning with his head at the girl he'd just killed. As nice as the blood was, she wasn't the one he wanted.

Silence…

Uri looked up, taken aback. "No-one knows her name?" Biting down on his lip, Uri stepped forward forcing the others to take a step back. "Who brought her here?"

"I did," A voice from the back spoke up.

"Oh darling," Uri smiled as her voice quivered, he curled his finger at her, calling her through the crowd to stand before him. "You're shaking,'

"I just wanted to, I didn't mean...Uri,"

"Shh, calm down Julliet,"

"I just wanted to prove..."

"I said shut up," He said calmly, still jumping her out of her skin, "I should eat you, here and now but I think Claudia's heart might give out, so get out of my sight,"

"But Uri," Juliette continued, unbidden tears showing.

"Bup bup," Uri interrupted, placing a finger on her lips. "Go to him, now,"

"Please," She cried. "He'll turn me and then have me wait for the sun,"

"I have one rule, _one_, why is it so hard for you twats to remember, huh? Get a bloody name, it's polite...what are we, animals?" Uri looked back to Juliette and grabbed her close, tilting her head so that her neck was exposed, having changed his mind about what Claudia's heart could take. "Close your eyes Claudia, that's a good girl," He buried his razor sharp teeth into Juliette's neck, blocking her screams with his hand and then dropped her to the ground after ravaging her neck.

"Now is there anything that you don't understand?" He asked, smiling when he got a chorusing 'no Uri' "Brilliant, now go away and don't come back until you have what I want, no-one in Mystic Falls is safe, make it clear,"

Uri waited for them to leave, then slipped on his jacket and pulled his hair free from the band before slipping on his gloves. He was ready to leave when he remembered Claudia, turning back he smiled at her and pulled the scarf out of his pocket to tie around her mouth, again. "Now you be good, and I'll bring you something to eat, preferably already dead? Of course. Ciao,"

Uri slipped out of the door, shutting off the lights before closing it behind him and heading down the driveway to meet his treasure, his motorbike. Flipping a leg over he settled onto his baby and turned the key over, smiling as it roared to life, then he pushed his shades down from on top of his head. "Time to go meet some locals," Uri chortled, taking off down the street.

****

Bonnie helped Jenna wash up after dinner, and Elena used the time to call Stefan on the phone. She brushed past Jeremy as he brought his plate downstairs and headed into the kitchen; Elena frowned as it rung out to voicemail and went straight to redial.

"Watch out," Jeremy said, as he reached the door with the bin.

"Hey, Stefan," Elena took the bag out of his hand, shooing him away as she pulled the front door open. "Call me back," she walked down the end of the driveway and leaned the bag against the can when her phone rang. "Hello? Stefan, is everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I was hoping you would come over," Elena spun around as she heard her front door shut.

"I don't know if I'm going to be able to tonight, Damon…"

Elena rubbed the back of her neck as the hairs stood viciously. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Elena, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm…being paranoid I guess," Elena's eyes quickly scanned her porch, and then she started rushing towards it when she tripped over her own foot, landing with a thud on her chest. "Ugh,"

"Elena!" Stefan yelled.

"I just fell, I'm okay." She choked out.

Three hooded figures appeared in front of her as she scurried to her feet slack jawed, one stepped in front of the other two baring his teeth and bloodshot eyes. Her heart started to race as she turned to run back to the house only managing to scream Stefan's name before she was yanked backwards by her hair.

"Elena?" Stefan called.

He ran to her house and was there in a flash but Elena wasn't, she was nowhere in sight.

~ Fin~

.

Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Discoveries

A/N: Thank you again for all the AWESOME reviews, it seriously keeps me excited about writing it. I notice the link I left didn't show, I'm still getting used to ffnet but I've put the link for Uri in my profile instead. Sorry this is a day late, I'd written the chapter and didn't like it so I scrapped it and started again, this version is much better.

The spacing was really killing me so I've added the ruler to separate the scenes, sorry if you've got like 3 notifications ffnet hates me :/

* * *

"Please, don't do this," Elena cried, struggling to free herself from the two men as the blonde girl, Alex walked ahead deeper into the woods.

"You strike me as a damsel in distress, is that what you are?" Alex asked.

"Please," Elena pleaded through gritted teeth, crossing her hand over the hand gripping her hair. "Let me go,"

Joey, the taller of the two men dragging Elena licked his lips when his focus fell on her neck, letting go of her hair his hand slipped down to her lower back and even when his friend attempted clearing his throat to snap him back to what they were meant to be doing, he was already entranced by her.

"Yo, Joey,"

"Shut up,"

Elena's eyes widened as his eyes threatened to change and thrust her elbow into his face out of fear of being bitten and instinctively kicked the other one in his shin before making a run for it. Elena knew she was no match for a bunch of vampires but she had to try anyway, with the confidence that Stefan would be looking for her, she prayed he was close enough to her screaming his name.

"Oh no, you don't," The voice brushed past, leaving her hair blowing wildly off her shoulders.

Elena spun around, all alone in the dark and being hunted but she couldn't see or hear where they were, only feel. "Stefan!" She called, arms hovering in front of her as she struggled to make out all the shapes around her, until the girl jumped out in attack mode.

"I take it back, you're not a damsel but you're certainly in distress,"

Elena frowned, wondering why the girl hadn't just attacked her; she felt the fear creeping back as the two men came to stand behind the blonde. Her heart was beating so hard she had no doubt the blood thirsty vampires could hear it, and it suddenly struck her that they hadn't attacked because they were the type of predators who played with their food first.

"C'mon guys, let's just let her go. We're not even supposed to be hunting, Alex,"

Joey chuckled, ignoring Darren's plea as his eyes fixed on Elena. "I wasn't gonna eat you, I was just fooling around,"

Alex kept lurching forward and in circles just to see Elena jump back in fear, a smirk overtook her face and she lurched forward again only this time there was no speed in her step. Alex tried again; exasperated by her failed attempts to run as fast as she did when they snatched the girl. "What's happening?"

Darren walked over to Alex as though being casual and was suddenly and very slickly standing in Elena's path so that she was behind him. "You know this is what happens when we exert ourselves after feeding; all the power drains away,"

"For you two maybe," Joey teased, flicking his tongue over his fangs as he glared at Elena.

Elena watched the three closely and realized as she thought back to when she saw them outside the house, only one stood forward baring all his teeth while the other two just kept their hoods over their faces. If they weren't vampires like Joey then what were they? Human?

"Oh lookey, our little friend here is tryna figure us out," Alex said, an insolent smile slowly making its way on to her face.

"Let's just let her go, Joey you can do that mind thing, if Uri finds out were taking for ourselves he'll kill us all," Darren pleaded, pushing his hoody off. The orders were to scare people, and kill if they had to until Uri got what he wanted but they weren't to take food for themselves unless they wanted to test Uri's wrath.

"Damn it, I knew we were forgetting something, Alex," Joey said, palming his face. "Darren's pacifier,"

The two started laughing, though both knew it was against the rules to feed on people without Uri offering them, after all they were still human and he was smart enough to feed them just enough to fool everyone into being scared. Unlike Alex and Darren was Joey, he was a vampire, hadn't been very long but it was long enough for him to cocky and start convincing himself that the rules didn't apply. Alex on the other hand just like the thrill of the chase and had quickly became Joey's minion, feeding on humans did nothing for humans, they wouldn't gain anything, and if they were caught doing so they'd be starved from vampire blood.

Elena looked between them, breath catching in her throat as Joey appeared in front of her and gripped her hair again, pulling her head back so that her throat was in plain sight.

"Guys, please," Darren pleaded, transfixed as his blood ran cold. He hadn't been a Night Crawler long and he'd thought it was what he wanted but he was beginning to wonder if he was just another angst-ridden teen who ignorantly took his 'hate the world' attitude too far.

"NO!" she screamed, kicking and throwing her arms out as Joey curled an arm around her waist and began pulling her into him.

****

Stefan's breath quickened in panic as his eyes scanned both ends of the empty street, he spun his head behind him as he heard the snap of a branch, the sound so crisp and clear if he weren't on the pavement he'd swear he stepped back and broke it himself. Tilting his head slightly, Stefan focused his hearing and heard Elena's scream. It didn't take a minute for Stefan to get to where she was and rush in there like a bull in a ring, he ran straight for the shorter butch guy with no hood, ramming him into a tree and leaving him unconscious. He bent down and picked up a thick piece of wood before turning to face the other two on either side of Elena, the guy smiling smugly as he ran his fingers down her face.

"Stefan," Elena choked out.

"Are you okay?" He asked, eyes studying intently for any visible wounds, while she looked panicked he was relieved to see Elena free of marks and was simultaneously careful not to let the blonde haired girl out of his sight. "Let her go, and I won't kill you," Stefan warned when Elena nodded.

"So kind of you," Joey retorted, wrapping his calloused fingers around Elena's neck and squeezing until her mouth fell open gasping for air.

Stefan saw the glint of his fangs as he threw his head back to attack and charged forward, knocking Elena out of the vampire's grasp but Joey was ready and ducked the swing that came at him, lifting Stefan over his head.

Stefan rolled onto his feet and grabbed at the thick wood masquerading as stake, the anger forced the fangs through his gums and he saw Joey step back as they did. "Leave!" He yelled, as blood pumped to his eyes and filled the veins beneath them.

Darren woke up and saw Stefan's fangs, his lips went white along with his skin, he was terrified, slowly backing up, Darren felt the tree behind him and stood up running as fast as he could into the darkness.

Joey shook his head; he'd caught Darren from the corner of his eye running. "Another vampire here in Mystic Falls, what are the odds?"

"Stefan," Elena called, as she got caught in a struggle with Alex who was clearly stronger because Elena couldn't get free.

Stefan glanced over and started towards them as Alex threw Elena to the floor but Joey had other ideas and hit Stefan at the back of the head. He stumbled forward, gripping the wood tight as he thrust it backward hearing the squelch as it went through flesh. Turning around, he pulled it out and rammed it into the vampires heart, Stefan didn't wait for him to fall to the ground dying, he pulled the wood free and sped across to Elena, throwing Alex off and plunging the wood into her stomach, twisting it as she gasped for air.

"NO!" Elena screamed but it was too late, blood spilled out of Alex's mouth as she fell into sitting position horror stricken.

Stefan's eyes widened as he realized there was no bloodshot eyes, no fangs and no shrivelling up. "She's human," He whispered.

* * *

Bonnie had made a mental note to smile and nod as aunt Jenner talked, handing her the plates she'd washed so that Bonnie could dry them, the young witch had insisted she pull her weight while staying there and wouldn't hear any arguments.

"I'm going up," Jeremy called out.

"Jeremy,"

Jeremy leaned over the banister, expressionless. "What?"

"Did you take out the trash like I asked?" Jenner asked, winking at Bonnie as she smiled.

"I would've if Elena didn't tackle me for it,"

Jenner chuckled, shaking her head as she heard Jeremy's footsteps grow distant. "Yeah right, he probably gave her the last of his rainy day money,"

Jenner went on about a lot of things; Bonnie figured it was mainly because they'd all been trying so hard to keep her mind on other things. If only they knew how scared she was of losing herself in the guilt of pushing her Grams to do another spell, even after she said they weren't strong enough to do it. The fear that she'd never be the same, never feel the same about anything rippled through her body and made her shiver as though a window had been left open. She smiled as Jenner turned to her and nodded lightly as though listening tentatively before returning to her own more daunting thoughts.

She was starting to miss who she was just days before finding out she was an actual witch, the burden of knowing what she was without the support and warmth usually offered by her grams brought a tear to her eye and before Bonnie knew it, she was ignoring Jenner's calls to her as she ran out of the kitchen about to disappear upstairs when an unfamiliar feeling stopped her.

"Bonnie…"

"I'm okay, I just need a minute,"

Jenner smiled, solemnly. "Okay,"

Walking towards the door, she felt an overwhelming sadness and anger that wasn't her own invade her body and had to stand still for a moment to breath it back out. Wiping away the stray tear, Bonnie pulled the door open and found Damon on the other side, fist mid air and ready to strike the door. "Damon?"

"That's what they call me," He said sarcastically, raising a brow at her worn state. "You and Elena have a pillow fight? Damn, I should've come earlier,"

Bonnie pushed the door, grunting as Damon pushed it back open. "What do you want?"

"That was rude," Damon stepped closer so that they were mere inches away from each other.

"Go away, Damon,"

Damon stuck out his bottom lip, giving her wounded puppy look. "Don't be mean to me, I couldn't handle it, I know we can get past this little…incident,"

"Little?" Bonnie hissed. "No Damon, we can't get past it, you're evil,"

"Oh well," Damon said deadpan. "I tried, now move,"

"No," Bonnie whispered through clenched teeth, standing her ground.

"Oh hey, Damon, come in," Jenner said, peering her head from the kitchen.

Bonnie rolled her eyes as he pushed his way into the house with a taunting grin, freezing as she felt all his anger and confusion fill her up like a balloon that was ready to go boom. Looking up at Damon, Bonnie's mouth fell open as the feeling faded away, so much pain radiated through her as their skin touched, _his_ pain? Damon was evil and unfeeling, how could it him she felt?

It couldn't. There was no way.

Damon turned back with a questioning look on his face. "What just happened?" He smirked, pointing a finger at her. "_Bonnie_, you were having naughty thoughts about me weren't you?"

Bonnie took a breath, finally looking up at him as he came close and found herself caught in the stunningly eerie blue of his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Damon sniffed, turning his back on her to look around the house. "Stefan told me to meet him here,"

"Stefan's not here,"

"Thanks for clearing that up, Genius," Damon turned back to Bonnie, tickled to see her in pyjamas. "Cute,"

Bonnie pulled her robe together, and looked up the stairs. "Elena!" She called.

"I'll just make myself at home," He smiled as she glared into him before running up stairs to call after her BFF. Damon sighed, leaning back into the sofa about to put his feet up when Bonnie came running back downstairs, he stood to attention.

"Elena, she's not up there, she's not anywhere," Bonnie cried. "Jeremy said she took out the bin, I heard the door, I thought she was back in," Bonnie whispered, careful not to attract Jenner's attention.

Coincidently, Jenner walked into the living room, blushing as Damon smiled knowingly at her and cleared her throat when she remembered Bonnie in the room with them. "I'm gonna get some reading done before bed, please remind Elena that it's a school night." Smiling back at Damon knowingly, she looked him up and down. "The Salvatore's can't stay late on a school night,"

Bonnie smiled, nodding lightly. "Night," she and Damon said in unison.

"Night,"

Damon waited for Jenner to disappear upstairs before he headed for the door. "Stay here,"

"No, I'm coming with you,"

"Bonnie," Damon's voice exuded authority as he turned to face the witch, staring her down with his icy blue eyes.

Unconsciously taking a deep breath as his eyes locked hers. "No, Damon,"

Damon pulled the door open greeted by Elena and Stefan. "Let me guess, what two corny star crossed lovers would be doing...hmm," He tapped his index finger against his lips in thought. "Watching the stars come up together," Damon sighed, frustrated and annoyed with himself for feeling a twinge of worry for his brother and his brother's girlfriend.

Elena pushed her hair behind her ear as she walked past he and Bonnie into the kitchen to run the tap, instead of stepping in, Stefan sat out on the porch and the look on his face wiped the grin off Damon's. He took his cue for once and stepped outside with him, pulling the door a little before leaning against the wall.

"I didn't know, if I'd known," Stefan muttered.

"If you'd known what? That fish swimming at the bottom of your shoes wasn't cool, I'm pretty sure I told you that,"

"Damon, I killed a girl,"

* * *

"I was worried about you," Bonnie said, placing her hand on Elena's shoulder. "You're shaking, Elena what happened?"

"Nothing,"

"How could you do that?" Bonnie asked, walking into the living room. Something had clearly happened to her best friend and she was holding back, after everything that had already happened including losing her Grams, Bonnie needed to feel included, wanted, _needed_.

"Do what?" Elena asked, following behind Bonnie.

"How could you just lie to me like that? You're my best friend, I'd tell you anything, and I tell you everything,"

"I know, Bonnie," Elena stepped in front of her. "I don't want to burden you, with all that's going on, it's not fair,"

"No, what's not fair Elena, is you keeping things from me," Bonnie slumped on the sofa. "I'm not breakable; I don't come in a box with a sticker on my forehead that says fragile,"

Elena slumped beside Bonnie, laying her head against her shoulder. "I know, but I worry about you too. I was trying to protect you,"

Bonnie sighed. "Let's make each other a promise, to protect each other by telling the truth, no matter what,"

"I promise," Elena said, rubbing her sore throat.

"Why were you so shaky, and Stefan so sullen, did you two fight?"

"No," Elena sat up, sighing wearily.

"Well then what happened?"

"I was attacked, but I'm fine," Elena added, hurriedly as Bonnie sat up mouth agape. "I promise I'm fine, Stefan found me,"

"Thank God, Elena I'm so sorry,"

"For what, this wasn't your fault,"

"I've been so selfish and wrapped up in my own problems; I didn't even know you were gone, what kind of friend does that make me?"

"A friend that just lost her grams, a friend that has always had my back no matter what," Elena leaned forward, smiling when Bonnie leaned in pressing her forehead against Elena's. "My best friend,"

Bonnie leaned back, eyes fixed on Elena's. "Now tell me what happened?"

Elena swallowed, she and Bonnie had just made a promise to tell each other the truth but telling her about what Stefan had done, by accident didn't count, did it? It really wasn't his fault, he just trying to protect her, anyone would've done the same but what weighed on her was how Stefan felt as he hadn't said anything walking her back home.

"I'll tell you when I know myself,"

* * *

Damon kneeled down beside Alex's body and placed his hand over her face to close her stilled eyes, and then he stood and walked over to the guy, Joey. "Well this one is definitely a vampire,"

"I saw his teeth and I assumed...the look in her eyes," Stefan's blinks were slow and thoughtful, he was replaying the look on the young girls face as he took her life from her, now Elena had seen him behave like a monster.

"Stop that, don't torture yourself over this. You were protecting Elena," Damon said, simply.

"Damon I killed an innocent girl,"

"I think innocent is a stretch, don't you?" Damon asked, stretching out an arm to motion to their surroundings.

"She was just a girl; she could've been compelled to attack Elena,"

"I don't think so," Damon turned the vampire over pulling the neck of his hoody further down to reveal the mark on the back of his neck.

"What?"

"Check this out,"

Stefan kneeled beside his brother and looked closer at the marking, it was a vampire skull with a bloody dagger going through it. "Night Crawlers,"

"I bet you find the same thing at the back of Buffy's neck. You're with the Night Crawlers," Damon pushed the vampire back down. "You're far from innocent,"

"Night Crawlers travel in threes,"

"Only one is a vampire; anyone would assume they all were, one fugly face is enough,"

The brothers swung around as they heard coughing behind them to find Alex spitting out the blood that had accumulated in her mouth. "You missed,"

* * *

The next day went on as normal, or at least as normal as they could manage, considering Bonnie's grams was dead and Elena had been attacked last night, the latter was getting to be a regular thing. While Matt and Caroline hung around trying to cheer Bonnie up, and she gave them a break a few times, actually laughing at Caroline's collection of short story mishaps. Tyler just nodded in their direction not sure how to approach since the funeral, but he had been checking in with Matt as casually as he could manage of course.

Elena hadn't done much listening during her lessons after lunch as she was itching to talk to Stefan about what had happened because she knew she would never hurt someone on purpose and _needed_ to him to know she knew that, looking back Elena realize what her silence might have implied. That's why she was thankful when she saw him standing by the school bus with his hands tucked away in his pockets waiting for her, Stefan's face told her nothing, there was no hint of a smile or heavy frown.

"Elena, I need to catch up with my school work. I was thinking of going to the library, I need to be somewhere quiet for a while," Bonnie spoke up, breaking into Elena's thoughts.

Turning her attention to her friend, Elena looked a little indecisive looking between Bonnie and Stefan. "Oh, okay. Do you want me to come?"

Bonnie smiled, pointing behind Elena. "Isn't that Stefan over there?"

"I could reschedule, he'd understand,"

"I know he would, and that's why I'm telling you to go. I'll be fine," Bonnie nudged Elena. "Go, I'll see you back at yours,"

Elena pulled Bonnie into a hug, rubbing her back briefly before pulling away. "I'll see you at home,"

"Okay," Bonnie waved at Stefan and turned away with her books.

"Oh wait," Elena called. "Do you want me to come pick you up? With what's been going on in Mystic falls lately, it's not safe to be alone at night,"

"I'll get a ride with Tiki, she's going over there to meet up with some guy,"

"Right, okay," Elena mumbled, looking a little perplexed.

"He's already got a girl,"

"Ah, gotcha," Elena paused. "Wait, I thought you couldn't stand Tiki,"

"I can when I need a ride," Bonnie bit her lip, smiling cheekily.

Elena giggled; pleased to see the most genuine smile she'd seen since before Grams passed. "Okay, uh, see you later,"

The ride with Stefan to the boarding house was quiet, while he looked deep in thought she was just rummaging through her head for something reassuring or supportive to say. Nothing came to mind, even when they climbed out and walked into the house she pulled him back towards her.

"What's going on?" Elena held his hand. "We need to talk Stefan, about last night,"

"I know," He nodded in response. "And we will, but first I have to show you something,"

Elena's forehead wrinkled. "What is it?"

"Come," Stefan held her hand and lead her into the house, past the living room and down some stairs which lead them to some kind of dark unused basement.

"What are we doing down here, Stefan?" She looked around, feeling uncomfortable and cold by the darkness of where they were. "What is this?" She asked as she saw the heavy door with thick bars on the window. "A prison cell underneath a boarding house..."

"Meet Alex," Stefan said, moving aside for her to look in.

Elena watched him intently before looking into the room that blew cold, gasping as she saw the girl from last night; Elena stepped back in haste tripping over Stefan. "Oh my God,"

Elena had seen Alex died with her own eyes, Stefan stabbed her and she stopped breathing, her eyes were wide open and her blood was everywhere and now she was sitting against the wall, skin grey and clammy.

But she was alive.

Stefan helped Elena upstairs and into the lounge, sitting her down before he fetched some water. "Sip it,"

"Thank you," Elena sipped on the cool drink, taking a few deep breaths until her heart slowed down. "How?"

"You feed on a vampire, die, and feed on a human..."

"Like Vicki," Elena leaned forward as he nodded. "What's going on?"

"It's a long story; the last time we came across this was back in 1865,"

"1865?"

"While most humans thought vampires were damnation, there were also humans who became...obsessed, they wanted what vampires had, _immortality_ and they were willing to do anything to get it,"

"What happened?"

"Vampires saw an opportunity, humans, mainly rich folk offering everything they had to be immortal. At first, vampires used them as toys, then one night a vampire overcome by rage to learn his slave had been turned by someone else, turned her whole family. It created chaos, normal people couldn't be told apart from half ways,"

"Half ways?"

"That's what they were called back then, humans were feeding on vampire blood, serving them so that one day they would be turned. As time went they became Night Crawlers, sneaking into towns and taking what they wanted, people disappeared into the night and were never seen again,"

"Using compulsion?"

"No, you have to understand. This is something that people _wanted_; they chose to die so they could return like this," Stefan swallowed.

"What kind of person wants that?" Elena paused, looking up at Stefan who hadn't taken his eyes off her, it was though he was waiting, expecting her to judge. "I wasn't..."

"I know," Stefan thought twice about telling Elena that in actual fact, Night Crawlers only took people who wanted to go with the odd death in a whatever town to feed, but he knew that wouldn't and couldn't make any of it better, it wouldn't make her feel safe, not after last night. It was still wrong to offer anyone eternal life and for that reason he and Damon were going to put a stop to it, finally.

"A few, bodies were found, well more than a few. Damon and I were under the impression they were local, but only one was from Mystic falls. Did you know a Laila Benjamin?" Stefan questioned.

Elena brought her hand to her mouth, shaking her head slightly. "No, I don't know that name," she was starting to realize that it was better the devil you knew; Damon didn't seem as scary anymore. "How are we gonna stop them?"

"The main vampire, his name's , no-one knows his first name, I've never seen him but he is very old, which means he's powerful,"

"How old are we talking?"

"400 years old, one of the Crawlers got away, he saw me turn so I can't gain their trust but Damon can. He's gonna become a Night Crawler, he's got to pretend to want they want, but to do that he has to be convincing…and to be convincing he has to become human again, he has to remember what it felt like _to be human_,"

"And then what? With a vampire as old as you say he is, _we_ can't expect Damon to kill the main vampire by his self,"

"He can't,"

Elena froze. "Well, then how..."

"The only one who'd be strong enough, in many ways stronger than vampires..."

Elena's mouth fell open, she suddenly realized what all this was coming down to and she was not going to like it.

* * *

Bonnie left the library waving Tiki goodbye as she climbed into her car and drove away, it was still light out so she decided she would walk. Holding her books close, Bonnie whipped her head around when she felt something pass behind her and sighed when she saw nothing. "Get a grip, Bonnie,"

She turned around and slammed into a firm chest, slowly looking up, Bonnie found she couldn't move.

"Yeah, get a grip,"

"Damon,"

"Hello, Bonnie," Damon said with an insolent smile.

~Fin~

Hope you enjoyed!


	4. Damon's Unsweet Disposition

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews on my latest chapter, it means a great deal to me. I really like this story and I hope you continue to enjoy it too. For some reason, unknown to me who apparently has no idea how to work ffnet, the name of the 400yr old vampire didn't show up, leaving some of you thinking it was Uri; the vampire above him is Orlando.

RL as usual has cut into my play time more than a few times, but I hope the wait is worth it to you all. Thanks again, for reading. This is the last build up chapter, I promise from the next one is pretty much BAMON galore! I love you all! 3

* * *

4. Damon's un-sweet disposition

"What part of stay away from me, don't you understand?" Bonnie hissed as she shoved past Damon to continue on her way to Elena's by foot, in that very moment feeling the heat of him on her heels, Bonnie was regretting not only letting Elena leave her alone but turning down a lift too.

"Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie," Damon muttered, impassively, gripping her elbow and pulling her back towards him. "You don't even know what I want yet, why are you so down on me?" He smirked then, knowing full well why she hated his guts and would help him anyway, and why? Because pathetic humans never failed to let their emotions make all the decisions.

"Go to hell," Bonnie gritted, yanking her arm free.

Damon took a brief moment to admire the deep forest colour of Bonnie's eyes, and had to blinked several times to pull himself back from the increasing allure of them. He took a breath."And risk getting a year round tan, there's so sun block cream in the world strong enough for that kind of sauna," Damon stepped into her space pleased to see her hold her breath as he came too close for comfort. "I need a favour, and considering I let you live after what Emily did, I'd say you owe me,"

"I don't owe you anything, it's because of you that my grams is dead,"

Damon couldn't say he hadn't seen that one coming, and maybe he had had a hand in it but what he saw in her eyes was more guilt than blame; they both knew who really felt the burden of Sheila's death. "Now now Bonnie, let's not forget how old she was, I mean it's amazing what a little magic can do for the skin." Offering a smile, Damon let the back of his hand slide down her smooth cheek before drawing his index across her defined jaw line.

Bonnie shoved him with all her might, hadn't even given it a thought and even when she saw his pale blue eyes turn icy it didn't register right away that he could kill her. She stepped back as he dipped a little so their eyes were level and while feeling him breathing against her face was scary she realized that he wanted something and hurting wouldn't help him get it.

"Trying to scare me isn't going to work,"

"Seems to be working to me," He said, upper lip curling into a snarl.

"What do you want from me?"

Damon straightened up, a smile warming his face. "Like I said, I need a favour,"

Bonnie felt a wave of his anger ripple through her body, she hated how he could blow hot and cold and knew getting involved with him would top all the dumbest choices she'd made in her seventeen years of life. "Why would I give you anything?" Bonnie asked through clenched teeth. "After what you did to me, if I never see your face again..."

"It'll be too soon, yada yada I hate you, yada yada," Damon mocked, feigning a yawn.

"You're not helping yourself here, Damon," Bonnie pressed her books against her chest and started walking again, rolling her eyes as he trekked behind her with an annoying chuckle.

"You're right Bonnie. I should just quit and eat you,"

Bonnie's heart drop kicked her in the chest, leaving her more than a little breathless by his threat but she recovered quick without her feet missing a beat, though her knees had threatened to buckle, swallowing hard as she picked up pace. "I'd love for you to try that now,"

"Now?" Damon questioned, taken aback by her fight talk. "Ooo, grams didn't leave you all her mojo in a special little box did she?" He felt his body heat up and the back of his neck prickle as Bonnie glared at him, or _into_ him, he couldn't tell. "On the bright side, she was pretty kick ass compared to what you're working with, newbie. So, if she has left the good stuff behind, Stefan's plan might just work,"

"What plan?"

"Stefan's got it into his head that we need YOUR help," Damon revealed, flippantly.

Bonnie felt a little relieved that Damon wasn't there on his own accord and stopped to face him, but turning so abrupt meant that his chest bumped hers, slightly. Bonnie gulped as he stared down at her, or _into_ her, she couldn't tell but it involuntarily heated her skin. "Stefan? W-hy uh, couldn't he come here himself?"

"Elena fell and got a boo boo," Damon frowned, taking a minute to think about it and then shrugged. "Something like that," He added, eager to leave the subject there.

"What does he need?" She asked, with hesitance.

"He needs _you_...to help _me_," The cocky vampire announced it like she'd won something.

She sighed and started walking yet again, Damon playing another one of his sick twisted mind games with her, trying to keep her afraid of him but now grams was dead she had to look out for herself and her family and she had to do it alone. If that wasn't a wakeup call she didn't know what would've done it, on top of it all she was missing her grams something terrible, she felt like a part of her was missing, she felt the hole in her chest every time she breathed in.

Damon followed behind, smirking and gripping her shoulder to further irk her, amused at her 'UNFORSEEN' reaction when she violently shrugged him off. "Oh come on Witch, don't be like that," He found himself asking why he hadn't just flung him over his shoulder and brought her to the boarding house instead wasting time trying to convince her? Usually his patience would've waned in a split second but he found the longer he was in Bonnie's company, the more compelled he was by her visible vulnerability. He noticed how butter soft her skin was, how deep green her eyes were and how full her lips looked and soon caught himself wondering how it tasted too.

Bonnie flung around, the anger inside so intense she felt like she would explode engulfing them both in flames of her simmering rage, he evoked every emotion within her including a growing lust that angered her even more. She saw Damon see it and the smile he'd broadened to irk her slighted a little but didn't fade. He might have been just a little impressed.

"Was it the witch thing?" He asked, eyes lowering as a pout emerged.

If looks alone could kill a vampire, Damon wouldn't be a reccuring issue. "I know you don't have a heart but my dad and I have just buried my grams, so please stop messing with me and leave me alone,"

If only it were that simple, what Damon was failing to say was that since finding out that her grams had died he felt a certain responsibility , not for her death but for Bonnie's safety. Emily might have been a lying, back stabbing bitch but to him a promise was a promise, and if the blood thirsty vampire stood for anything it was keeping his word. But keeping a watchful eye on Bonnie was more chore than he'd first anticipated, he learned that she had an insatiable need to wander off alone and unprotected, the humans seemed to forget that the world was a dangerous place, before they learned of the things going bump in the night. Damon killed, well mostly to keep himself alive, he needed the blood but was the serial killers excuse for hurting people?

True, Mystic falls wasn't exactly a magnet for the random serial killer but it didn't stop a bunch of jocks following Bonnie home one night, their intentions becoming disgustingly clear to the vampire, angering him beyond even what he believed was possible, not for a human. And he wasn't about to forget her lastest stunt which included her leaving Elena's house in pyjamas to go sit in her Grams empty house, while keeping her safe should've been working his nerves it was just about the only thing that kept his mind of Katherine and her betrayal.

Heading towards Mystic Grill, Bonnie flung the door open, flinching as Damon slammed it back and slid between her and her getaway place, as though he'd read her mind to hide out in there until rescued her. "I'm afraid I can't do that, I can't leave you alone," His eyes widened as he flashed a mirthless smile at her. "This can't wait,"

"What can't?" She yelled. Her Grams couldn't wait, not even for her and now she'd buried her, she scanned the glaring faces whose attention she'd caught before down casting her gaze.

Damon looked where she looked and glared long enough for them to realize when to mind their own damned business. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt how Bonnie looked, the last time he'd suffered a loss that left him as cripple as Bonnie's threatened to leave her. There was a difference between feeling at a loss when it came to getting Katherine free from the tomb and finding out she'd been free a long time. He'd wallowed in the shocking truth a little while but now all he felt was an unquenchable rage every time he thought of Katherine. "Believe it or not, actually I can't believe it myself but I'm not here to mess with you, THIS TIME," He smiled a brillant smile.

Bonnie watched him warily as he placed his hands on the glass, barricading her in his arms. "Then what, what do you want Damon?" She whimpered, her stance, her eyes, her voice all lacking the conviction, strength or even hope. He'd warn her down.

Damon raised a brow, she looked fragile, well she always looked breakable being a tiny little thing, but not defeated. "We got new fangs in town, they're nasty, and it seems like they've chosen Mystic falls for a buffet,"

Instead of her deep greens lighting up with fear, anticipation and panic, they turned cold and blank as though she'd fallen into a trance or bewitchment.

Damon frowned, placing hand on her shoulder just in time to feel her whole body turn cold beneath his touch, her emotions filled him up making him pull away snappish. He cleared his throat and chuckled as she stared aimlessly before clicking his fingers in front of her face, she snapped out of her trance and looked up at him.

"Yeah, uh, leave all that to me. Mystic Falls is my sandbox, the kills are mine," He said, lip curling up.

She glared at him, clenching her keys so tight that it hurt, but not as much as losing her grams, never as much as that. "It's what I wanna do to you," she said, inwardly scorning herself for thinking of other things away from lighting him up that she wanted to do. Where was it all coming from?

Damon stared into her eyes before moving back with a smile. "Yeah, don't care, meet me at the boarding house after dark,"

"No," She whispered.

"Bonnie...I'm not a very patient man, and I'm not very nice either, don't ruin my day,"

Bonnie swallowed. "Say it,"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Say what?"

"That you need help,"

"I can make you know, I'm more than a little persuasive..." Damon smiled at a young brunette as she walked by, flicking her hair off her shoulder. Unfortunately for Bonnie, he would feel in no way remorseful for making an example out of the long legged beauty.

Bonnie shoved Damon until he was beside her and pulled the door back open. "I really hate you,"

"Again, don't care," He pointed to himself as she looked up.

"If you were going to hurt me, you'd have already, like you said, you're not patient. But you can't make me help you. Goodbye Damon,"

"Alright, forget it," Damon said, hating his big headed brother's stupid kinda makes sense plan to have Bonnie help out. Witches had been helping Vampires for longer than Damon existed as one. "You go, and when your friends start disappearing don't come to me,"

Bonnie paused but remained in the path of the opened door. "Why should I believe you?"

"You don't have to believe, I can show you,"

* * *

Uri was so far unimpressed with Mystic Falls, having sat in Mystic grill a few hours after dark and met a ditzy barbie and her ken doll boyfriend who were completely uninteresting, he'd hoped he would see Bonnie show up, but with the older witch dead he was forced to reconsider the strength and power he'd first believed that she possessed.

Unlike most Night Crawlers, Uri never considered himself one, in fact he didn't care for any of them and he mocked Orlando for not pegging him for the solo act that he was and always had been. Still, it would be to everyone's downfall, Uri never failed to have a plan, with a plan of revenge as big as his, he couldn't afford not to.

He sat by the window having sillouhetted around him so the room was left with a gloomy shadowed look, meanwhile he was able to enjoy the beauty of the sun. A smile graced his lips as a memory he thought was long lost to his black soul emerged from his hateful thoughts.

_Uri stood by the window, peering through the tattered linen hanging from it on to the busy high street of London. Men, woman and children passed wearing only the best attire, noblemen passed with their scarlet women and families with pouches of gold shopped on the market. All he could do was envy, admire, loathe all those who'd been dealt all the good cards, life was hard enough and now God had set a test to further challenge his faith. First their parents went missing, then their aunts and uncles, gone without a trace._

_Had he have known any better he would assume the make believe stories his father told him were coming true, monsters were real, only they weren't always furry and of the kind that right minded people would suspect. Uri had vowed to find them and bring their family back together, and promised to give his life for Lily's should they find themselves in any danger, young and alone in the grimy streets of London anything could happen._

_Lily watched Uri with his arms folded behind his back, deep in thought."Uri come away from the window, you know what will happen, should uncle find you failing to do the work he has set,"_

_"You shouldn't worry yourself about me, Lily, I'm older than you and am perfectly capable of keeping myself out of strife," Uri winked, crossing the dining room to wrap an arm over Lily's shoulder. "And he is not our uncle; he's merely putting us up until we are able to move on, baby sister,"_

_"And you never allow me to forget it either, I won't be your baby sister forever,"_

_"Because contrary to what you may think, I will always be older and you will always be younger, therefore being your older brother will never cease nor will the responsibility that comes with it, dearest Lily,"_

_Lily giggled, pushing her brother away from her. "You offend me Uri, I may _your_ baby sister, but I am not a baby," _

_Uri's smile faded, something about the way she looked at him when she said what she did made his already suspicious mind question it the sudden determination to convince him. The chosen emphasis on baby worried Uri, clearly she'd been assured by another that it was not so and he intended to find out who._

_"That may be," Uri said, tight lipped. "But without a mother and a father, I have become both. Do not forget your place with me,"_

_Lily smiled, bowing her head in understanding. "Yes, brother,"_

"Aww, my Lily," Uri mused. "Always so strong willed,"

"Who's Lily?" Claudia asked, shakily.

Uri turned slowly, he offered a smile pleased to turn his back on the falling sun and crossed the room to join Claudia on the sofa, she wasn't tied anymore nor was she compelled but he'd shown her something that calmed her fear. "Lily was my sister, tiny little thing, much like Laila." He snapped his head toward the door as the knob turned and was crossing the room in swift seconds, wrapping an arm around the hoodied man's neck.

"U-ri," He choked out.

"What are you doing back here?" Uri asked, letting Darren go. He knew full well that no-one but the Night Crawlers reported back to him, and he always expected the heavily hoodied wannabes but he cared nothing for them, and every chance he got to show them he would.

Holding his neck, Darren glanced over at Claudia. "I…sorry,"

"Where are the other two?"

"Dead,"

Uri tilted his head, glaring as a tick started in his jaw. "I must warn you now, guessing games were never my strong point, so start talking or drop to your knees and beg me to spare you,"

Darren took several steps back, until his back was against the door startled by Uri's inky black eyes. "I, it wasn't my fault, they wouldn't listen to me, Uri I tried but…"

Uri growled, lurching forward he gripped Darren's neck and forced him to his knees. "I didn't ask for a bed time story," His fangs pushed through his gums as he lost patience for the babbling human. "I do not care for a bunch of pathetic humans _or_ the pathetic vampires who wish to pet them, I'm in this town for one reason and one reason only. Your friend died because he was greedy, the other one however, well she's not dead dead but you will be, do you want to die?"

Claudia watched on, the fear evident in her ghostly pale face and wide eyes.

"No," Darren wailed. "Please,"

"I want to hear one thing from you before you die, who did this?"

"It was a vampire,"

Uri scowled, he'd come across a few hunter wannabes, same as wannabe vampires but never did he expect that vampires would be in such a small and supposedly quiet town. "Vampire?"

"Yes, and his girlfriend…"

Uri smirked. "so, two vampires?"

"No," Darren said, shakily. "She was human, Joey snatched her and then this vampire came out of nowhere and attacked us, he protected her."

It was getting better and better, just when Uri thought this useless town was no fun he realized there was a sand box after all and it had already been claimed too, maybe he could kill two birds with one stone. "Was her name Cliché Monroe?"

Darren frowned, not knowing exactly what answer Uri wanted. "Elena," He swallowed. "And Stefan,"

"Interesting, I half expected Mary and Stu," Uri's smile melted into a sullen, cold stare leaving Darren shivering again. "You stink of fear, it angers me,"

"I'm sorry,"

Uri rolled his eyes and lifted Darren to his feet. "I'm going to tell you what you're going to do, you're going pretend you were never in Mystic Falls and you're going to return to New Orleans, to your poor worried parents. You're going to go back a changed boy, you've given up being an emo pain the backside and you've given up obsessing over vampires, we do not exist. Do you understand?"

Darren nodded vigorously. "Yes,"

Uri cracked his neck side to side before running a hand through his dark hair and sighing. "Why are you still here?"

Darren was careful not to give Uri his back until he was out of the house and running for his life, he couldn't believe Uri hadn't killed him, let alone the fact that he would actually see his parents again. He'd been spared.

"What are you gonna do?" Claudia asked.

"I think Stefan and I will make great friends," Uri flashed a curt grin, slipping into his jacket. "Don't worry you're safe here, I cast a protection charm around the house so feel free to roam, shower, pray, whatever."

* * *

"Damon and Bonnie?" Elena quizzed, eyes widened.

"Yes," Stefan replied, wearily after answering the same question half a dozen times already. "Look I know it's hard to get your head around," He stood and began pacing up and down, wondering himself if Damon was even capable of pulling this off. "But if there was any other way, I would be doing it. I know he won't hurt Bonnie, not if he thinks it will benefit it more not to."

"How does he think he'll benefit?"

"I made him a deal, if he helps me get rid of St Clair with the help of Bonnie that I would help him find Kaherine,"

"Stefan, after everything she's done I can't believe you want to help him find her," Elena joined Stefan standing.

"You don't understand Elena, he wants revenge," Stefan let out a breath. "If you think you've seen the worst of Damon, you've been naïve, once his mind is set on something there's nothing in the world that can change that,"

Elena parted her lips to speak when she heard the front door open with screaming, Stefan ran to the door to see Damon with Bonnie over his shoulder, kicking and screaming for him to let her go. Elena joined them by the doorway, speechless.

"Damon," Stefan began.

"Let her go," Elena demanded.

Damon's smile slanted and he lowered Bonnie on to her feet, his smug grin only widened as she rushed to Elena's side like a scared little child. "I was just giving her a ride,"

"He forced me," Bonnie cried.

Stefan found himself automatically between the girls and Damon. "I said I would talk to Bonnie, Damon if this is gonna work you can't go around doing things on impulse,"

Bonnie stepped forward, gripping Stefan's elbow. "You mean, Damon was telling the truth about the vampires?"

Stefan turned to face the girls, his wounded look showing sincerity as he looked down at the petite witch, he really didn't want to involve her especially with what she was already going through. "Yes, and we need you,"

Elena stepped to Bonnie's side, while glaring at Damon. "We're gonna be at your side the whole time, Stefan will make sure nothing happens to you,"

"I don't understand," Bonnie confessed. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Embrace your badass," Damon interjected, leaning against the wall conceitedly.

Bonnie looked between Stefan and Elena, while her best friend looked more than hesitant about the whole idea, her boyfriend held an earnest expression on his face that told her he wouldn't be asking if he didn't have to. Stefan was your good guy, protective and honest, in her heart she knew if it was something he could do he would without either of them even knowing about it, but Damon's smugness was what made her hesitant. She couldn't read what was behind it and it left her nervous.

"I don't know," Bonnie muttered, "I've always had grams to help me, I don't know if I can do it on my own,"

Damon rolled his eyes, ignoring the heated glances Elena threw his way every minute and a half. "Do you need a minute? You know for the all the monologing riddled with self doubt,"

Stefan ducked his head so that their eyes were meeting. "You're stronger than you think, Bonnie. You just need help honing your powers,"

Bonnie felt those words hit her right in the heart, after hearing it from her grams so many times she realized whether she believed it or not she would have to do what needed to be done, without grams around the responsibility fell on her shoulders. Looking back at Elena, she decided that everyone she cared about was more important than her fears, if she could protect everyone from harm then at least she could make her grams proud. The trick was getting over that fear in record time.

"I wanna help, hold on," Damon said before speeding down the hall and reappearing seconds later with Alex in his arms, her eyes were rabid and her lips were grey, she was thirsting for blood and looking straight at Elena. "How about I let her eat your best friend, she's starving,"

Bonnie's eyes grew wide.

"Damon," Elena cried out, jumping back startled.

"What are you doing?" Stefan frowned, stepping in front of the girls.

"Aren't you done being scared?" Damon asked, holding Alex tightly against him as she struggled to get away. "Do you even know what you're capable of? How much you can do?"

"Damon stop it," Stefan yelled as Elena stood behind him, holding his shoulder.

Bonnie looked frantically between Elena and the vampire who was visibly starving for blood and ready to attack anyone that moved, preferably her best friend but her weakness was focusing on the fear instead of channelling the energy it brought.

"All you see is teeth," Damon continued to taunt. "Does it make your heart thump against your chest, huh? Does the fear paralyze you?"

"Stop it," Bonnie cried.

"How long have you been waking up drenched in your own sweat and tears, after I've sucked you dry?"

Bonnie grabbed her head, fighting the images of him attacking her out in the forest and leaving her for dead. And the emotions, doubt, fear, grief, anger all mounted up into ball in her stomach knotting, building, growing so intense inside of her that she hadn't realized how tight her jaw clenched.

"Bonnie?" Elena called out, concern creasing her forehead.

"Your grams is probably turning in her grave," Damon hissed, venom dripping from his words.

"Leave me alone!" Bonnie yelled, flinching as the chandelier exploded above them making it rain glass.

They dived out of the way as the chandelier came crashing to the floor, Bonnie hadn't moved from where she stood but Stefan was cocooning Elena on the floor, with his arm over her head while Damon had simply stepped back.

"That all you got?" Damon teased.

Bonnie glared at him like she was possessed, her deep green eyes coming alive as she started a fire in front of him, making Alex cower into Damon's chest.

Stefan slowly untangled himself from Elena and shook the glass off his shirt before standing, he pulled Elena to her feet and while Elena watched her best friend with bewilderment, Stefan watched Damon knowingly.

Damon offered a razored smile, letting go of Alex. "Very Carrie," He smiled at Bonnie. "Impressive,"

* * *

After putting out the fire Bonnie had started in the long hallway Stefan grabbed Damon by his scruff and rammed him into the wall, he knew all too well that Alex wasn't a vampire yet, there was the whole palaver of having to feed her vampire blood, kill her and then feed her human blood and he could tell from the minute he saw her that she wasn't a real threat. It was Damon doing things his way again, goading and taunting Bonnie into taking action because he was too inpatient to ease her into it.

"Is that steam coming out of your nose?" Damon laughed, pushing his arms between them to push Stefan away from him. Straightening out his shirt, he lead Alex into the dining room to join their new Scooby doo gang, or at least that's what it felt like to him. "I did what I had to do, to make her see,"

"I wanted to do it," Alex said. "I'd do anything to get out of that stinking cage,"

"Exactly, she was more than willing to put on a show, well half a show. She was has a thing for your girl. Besides, I gave her some blood without killing anyone," Damon said, proudly. "You're out of Bambi by the way," He added with a wink.

Elena sat beside a shaky Bonnie, rubbing her shoulder. "That was cruel, Damon,"

Damon raised a brow. "_That _was cruel? Have you _met_ me?"

"What were you trying to prove?" Bonnie whispered.

"That you're a witch, not a feeble school girl," Damon said, annoyed by her unwillingness to accept what she _had_ to do because of _what_ she was. "You were born this way, you don't just get to be normal, get over it,"

"What he means is," Stefan walked over to Bonnie and kneeled down beside the sofa. "We can't do this without you, now there is a very bad vampire we need to get to but once we get to him, we're gonna need someone powerful enough to kill him. If you put your mind to it, you can be stronger than me…and Damon,"

Bonnie looked across the room at Damon, all she wanted was to destroy him, or atleast that's what she thought she wanted. "What would I have to do, exactly?"

"You play victim, Damon captures you, brings you to him, then you light him and all the other vampires up. He has to gain their trust but Bonnie, after this last thing, Damon's gone,"

"It's true," Damon smiled, folding his arms. "On to bigger and better things,"

"You mean that?" Bonnie asked. "I help you and then you leave Mystic Falls?"

"Why would I wanna stay somewhere, where I have to watch my diet?" Damon questioned, like it was a no brainer.

"He'll help you hone your skills, and you'll help him to remember. To _feel _human again, enough to become one of the Night Crawlers,"

"Help him _feel _human?" Bonnie asked, incredulously. "And what are the Night Crawlers?"

"You should seriously consider, recording yourself," Damon mocked, before leaving the room momentarily.

Stefan rushed to his feet and blocked Alex's' path before she could follow after his brother. "If you don't want to starve into nothing," Stefan growled. "You will tell me everything you know,"

She stepped back, frightened by his sudden transformation. "He has a different agenda to Lord St Clair, he cares for nothing else,"

"What? Who _is_ he?" Stefan scowled, he'd assumed the biggest threat to Mystic Falls was St Clair.

"I'd rather die than have him learn of my disloyalty," Alex vowed, knowing Uri would come for her, he was going to be her creator, it was him she fed on when weak and she loved him for it.

"Then who is Lily?" He breathed, growing more inpatient by the minute.

"Kill me," Alex said with a grin.

Before Stefan had time to think of his next move, Damon was pinning Alexsagainst the wall while she wriggled in the air, face ballooning red as she struggled to breathe.

"Stop it," Elena said, rushing to her feet. "If you kill her you could make things worse, a girl's dead,"

"I'm just fulfilling her request," Damon grunted, squeezing his calloused fingers tighter around her neck.

Bonnie stood, at a loss of how she could show Damon his human side when he was intent on creating chaos. "What girl?"

"Laila Benjamin, she was a local," Elena revealed.

Bonnie froze and they all saw it, she'd babysitted the girl on more than one occasion when she was a toddler, after Laila's father left making Claudia a single mother, she was forced to take every shift she could get and being a friend of Bonnie's dad meant that her services were offered without permission, and for no pay.

Damon dropped Alexis to her knees as he waited for her little revelation. "Do you always go for the dramatic pause?"

"I know her, or I did," Bonnie mused, ignoring Damon's taunts.

Alex started laughing, so loud that she looked haunted when her eyes met with theirs, one by one. Having been strangled seconds before, her was choppy, strained and rough which made her darn right scary, even if she was on her knees.

Damon took on a look of amusement, while the girls watched in complete bewilderment.

Stefan kneeled in front of her. "Tell me, or my brother here makes breathing difficult again,"

* * *

The moon glowed eerily above Uri as he climbed off his bike, nightfall was here and he couldn't be more pleased now he was free to roam, the wind blustered taking flight in his lengthy hair as he pulled off his gloves and made way into the forest. The trees rustles ceaselessly as he travelled deeper into the woods, a smile overtaking his handsome face as his eyes set on the figure up ahead.

A Night Crawler, _he'd _recruited personally.

"Your passion is inspiring." Uri said as he walked around to face the Night Crawler. "I'm a man of my word, at midnight tomorrow; you will become a vampire,"

Laila pushed off her hood and smiled.

~Fin~

Bonnie and Damon get ready for a little one on one's in next chapter, but first Bonnie has a few conditions that might just backfire.


	5. Chapter One on One

A/N: First off, thank you for you review quizas31 :D Much appreciated! More Bonnie and Damon interaction to come.

Thank you all for your consistently amazing reviews, they make my day! It's been a while since my last post, my laptop was pissing about but what's new? These machines we grow to rely on are made to break down so we can spend more money on it, I can't put all the blame on this stupid sod computer though, I'm writing two stories simultaneously with this one. I know, mean. Sorry! I hope where I decided to leave this chapter doesn't disappoint, but it was way too long and I didn't want you readers to have focus on too many things at a time.

Hope you enjoy!

~ Noa

* * *

Chapter Title: Chapter One on One

Laila had stumbled on to a website months prior to meeting Uri, she'd been googling pictures and after seeing one she liked enough to double click a site loaded beneath it and loaded, it was a forum dedicated to people who claimed to be vampires, of course they weren't _she'd thought_but still her fingers typed her a penname and password. It was there she met Darren, a young runaway who travelled with who he called his new family, his stats were low, five posts total and little to no activity, yet somehow they made friends.

And before she knew it Darren was there, meeting her outside of school, Laila remembered wanting to slam her head against a brick wall for being so stupid, stupid enough to tell him where she lived. The only thing she could be thankful for was the fact that he was indeed a seventeen year old runaway like he'd said instead of a forty year old virgin pervert, true enough, he'd embellished a few minor details about himself to sound more appealing but she didn't care, he _wasn't_ an old prowler.

A little detail she'd refused to believe was the family members he'd adopted, that was until she met the mouth watering British guy, _Uri Osborne was his name, the guy with a chip on his shoulder and a suaveness not even the jocks she'd crushed on could imitate_. She was embarrassed to learn that the secret she'd shared with Darren was now known amongst them all, including the mysterious British guy.

Uri told her that she'd been chosen by Darren and that he'd made a great choice, and then they made her an offer that she couldn't refuse, immortality. After that Uri had done his best to show Laila the life she'd be living and he succeeded on more than one occasion to scare her, but Laila never went running. He wanted her to know what she'd become, he wanted her to know what it felt like to be hunted, to be prey. There was no turning back, Uri was a predator and soon she would be too.

Lailafollowed everything to the letter, followed the rules and tests put before her without fear even when she struggled, she had to stay away from her mother so that she would know what it felt like to be without her, because once she was a vampire, she would outlive everyone in her life.

Still she accepted, and her passion for it was inspiring.

"I haven't found Alex, she's not here. I think she was taken, I burnt Joey,"

Uri gave her a slanted smile, brushing his hands down the side of her face. "You're a good girl, Laila."

Laila smiled, pulling her hood back over her face. After going missing she had to be careful not to be spotted, because if Mystic Falls was good for anything it was banding together and knowing and helping each out. Laila was pretty damn sure, a local no matter how close to her mum would pinch her ear and drag her ass back to Claudia in record time if they caught on.

"Tomorrow, you promise,"

"Yes, you needn't worry my darling girl. Tomorrow you will be what I am,"

Laila nodded eagerly. "I can see mom?"

"Yes to say goodbye, it's the last time she'll see you alive. Spend the time well,"

"I will," Laila turned to go when Uri caught her arm.

"I need you to do something else,"

"I'll do anything Uri, what?"

"Let's just say, I need you to do a little light reading,"

Laila cocked her head to the side. "Oh?"

* * *

_Bonnie held him tight, like she was holding on for dear life, he was so warm and held her so close that she felt nothing but safety in his arms, the tears slipped down her face as she watched the deep hole in the ground filling up with her grams in the coffin. The rain poured from the grey puffy clouds above them but he never let go, because he somehow knew she didn't want him to, instead he stroked her head comfortingly and shushed her cries until she was sniffling._

"_Come love; let me take you home,"_

_Bonnie pulled away and looked up into his black eyes, tensing as she realized she'd seen him before. "Who are you?"_

"_Don't be silly, it's me, Uri,"_

"_Uri?"_

_He dipped low, cupping her face in his hands as he looked her in the eyes. "Hey, you're safe. You know I'd never hurt you" He frowned. "You know that, don't you?"_

_Bonnie nodded, feeling as though he would never hurt her but found herself simultaneously confused by her own surety of him, why did she feel so safe when she didn't know him? Why did he know her?_

"_Hey, I'm going to take care you, you silly thing," Uri brushed his thumb underneath her wet eyes and then wrapped an arm around her._

"_Uri," She whimpered as dark figured men appeared behind him, she gripped his arm as he turned around just as startled as she was, and without a second thought gripped her wrist and started dragging her into the woods away from their hungry laughter._

"_I can't run anymore,"_

"_Keep your arse moving," He yelled, with laboured breath._

_The forest filled with mist, thick and heavy and though it had stopped raining the moisture still lingered in the air, leaves dripped, their feet squelched the dirt and Bonnie felt her heart beating hard and in sync with Uri's._

_They reached an open space in the forest and with one fluid movement; Uri spun Bonnie behind a tree and ordered her to stay there while he remained out in the open._

"_Uri,"_

"_Shut up, don't move," He warned, pulling two stakes from his long black, high collared coat._

"_The girl I saw, she was crying and you…"_

"_And I was torturing her," Uri confessed, smile turning cold as he stared at her._

"_I don't understand,"_

_Uri sighed heavily, rolling his eyes at her apparent lack of knowledge. "She was a vampire, and so are the dicks running towards me, stay out of sight,"_

_Bonnie craned her neck around the tree, slamming back against the dampness as she saw them push out of the thick fog, four of them, two visibly bigger than Uri but he didn't looked the least bit phased by their glaring eyes and fatal teeth._

"_Uri Osborne, undercover hero," One of the smaller men said, playfully._

_Uri smirked. "Cheeky bastard, do I look like a hero? You can eat who you want, but not my girl,"_

_The blonde haired, Hercules built Night Crawler stepped forward with an eerie grin spreading his face._

_Uri parted his legs a little so that his stance was balanced and smiled back. "So you're the worst of the four are you?" He winked, gripping the stakes so tight his knuckles blanched. "It's just; well the best always send out their weakest first,"_

_Hercules glanced behind him, giving only a minute to doubt before rushing forward for Uri. _

_Bonnie instinctively screamed out, fearing Uri being outnumbered would be to his detriment but all she managed to do was grab the attention of another two coming up behind Uri, both walked slowly and purposely towards her while she stood frozen._

_Uri swung the head of the stake into Hercules face, flicking it round with grace he then drove it into the blonde's chest, smiling to see him stricken and then kicked him off the sharp edge, he was quick to lose the grin when he saw two coming from behind him with their sights set on the witch but with no time to act he yelled for her to run._

_Bonnie looked his way, eyes wide with horror as he took on the other three at one time, the way he moved with those stakes, so quick, clean and elegantly stabbing right to the heart each time, it was the last thing she'd seen before she'd started running._

_Her breathing filled the air and her feet sloshed into the ground as she struggled to lose the two men, even with all the horror movies she'd seen and screamed at with Elena alongside her, Bonnie still couldn't resist the urge to look behind her, shaving ten seconds off her speed each time._

"_Ugh," She grunted, slamming into one of them._

_This one looked bigger than Hercules and meaner, he held no smile, only a deep scowl and particularly sharp canines, his iron grip on her arms she was sure had stopped the blood. Holding her breath as he lifted her up into the air, her eyes grew as his mouth fell open gasping for air, over his shoulder she saw Uri jerk backward and then drive forward with force and speed that forced big guy to drop her._

_He flung his big clumsy hands behind his back trying to pull the stake free and Uri stood back and watched with an amusement that Bonnie had to question, he crossed his arms with a taunting smile while the big man struggled._

"_Having fun?" He asked Bonnie, spinning the other bloody stake between his long slender fingers before diving toward the entertainment._

_***_

Bonnie sprung forward, beads of sweat glistening on her forehead as the moon crept into Elena's window crossing her face to shine on Elena's side of the bed, she slowly turned to face her best friend, wondering with her all recent active dreams how she managed to stay asleep.

Uri was pretty handsome and inappropriately charming, talk about timing, it wasn't as though they were over a table of fine cuisine and candles, she was being chased and he was, well he was this pretty cool slayer guy. But, the dilemma was knowing the difference between a dream and a premonition, was she going to actually meet this guy or was her subconscious playing out her need to be rescued?

"Elena," Bonnie whispered, leaning forward to tap her awake. "Elen…" the name caught in her chest as she poked something way too soft to be her friend, flinging the blankets back she frowned to see the pillows stacked up and jumped out of bed heading out into the hall.

While the landing was pitch black, Bonnie caught a glowing light at the end of it leading downstairs and padded barefooted down the stairs into the living room where she found Elena, she sat pensively while the TV droned on, only she wasn't paying it any attention. Bonnie slipped beside Elena and placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze without a word.

Elena glanced at her momentarily before pretending to find interest in the commercials on TV. "Couldn't sleep?"

Bonnie shook her head lightly. "No,"

"Me neither," Elena mumbled.

"Had a wild dream though," Bonnie smiled lopsidedly, before the heavy sigh that breezed past her best friend's lips pulled her brows together. "Elena…"

"I'm worried, Bonnie," Her eyes finally met Bonnie's. "I'm worried about this whole thing, about _you_,"

Bonnie searched out Elena's hand and held on to it. "And I'm worried about you,"

Elena frowned. "What? Why?"

"Because Mystic Falls' isn't what it used to be, since school started again it's been one nightmare after another. All these terrible things are happening, we're all in danger and I don't want anything to happen to you," Bonnie's jaw clenched. "I won't let anything happen to you,"

"So you've decided? You're actually going through with it. Bonnie listen, you can't do this because of me, Stefan …"

Bonnie shook her head. "I'm not just doing it for you, I'm doing it for dad, Matt, Caroline…_Jeremy_," She emphasized his name. "Aunt Jenner?"

Elena's eyes fell, now she understood, God knew if she had the power to do it she would do anything to protect everyone she loved too.

"I wanna do this for Grams too," Bonnie smiled solemnly. "She believed in me, so I figured maybe it was time to start believing in myself,"

Elena nodded hesitantly, she couldn't bury her fears too deep and knew now that her best friend had made the decision that she wouldn't be able to breathe until it was all over. "I believe in you, Bonnie," _I'm just scared for you…_

Bonnie wrapped her arms around Elena's neck, smiling and closing her eyes when Elena's arms came around her back and she could feel the fear radiating through her along with all the questions she'd been asking herself since Damon's little test. How was this going to work?

Pulling away, Elena grabbed the remote and flicked off the TV. "So what this wild dream you had?"

"You mean the one that woke up me out of sleep to come catch you veggin' out on the sofa?"

Elena chuckled, though half-hearted she'd tried. "Yeah, that one,"

"Well first off, it was not creepy at all," Bonnie said, sarcastically.

The pair laughed together.

"But there was this really cute guy, he kind of saved the day," Elena had enough to worry about what with worrying about her, and as far as she knew Uri was just a dream, after all the nightmare realization that vampires were real, it _was_ obvious her subconscious was creating a hero. Maybe Uri represented her, maybe she would get to be a hero.

"Tell me more,"

* * *

Damon sat in front of the fire, having felt Stefan before he even entered the room; the older vampire found himself smiling. "Think she'll do it, little brother? Think my little Oscar deserving skit did the trick?"

Stefan joined Damon by the fire, sitting on the sofa opposite with his fingers entwined and his elbows resting on his knees."You know Damon…"

"Spare me the lecture Louie," Damon snorted, taking a sip of his drink. "We don't know how this thing is gonna pan out, if they'll wait it out like usual and integrate or if it's under new management, this guy with his own agenda, which could be to eat Mystic Falls' locals one by one. If it's the latter we can't wait on Bonnie to be ready, we have to make her ready,"

"I don't think so, if this guy has his own agenda he'd be smart enough not to let it interfere with the Night Crawlers. There are stages, Damon,"

"I know that, Stefan,"

"Then we have enough time,"

"I still like my plan better,"

"Yeah, what was that again?" Stefan asked irreverently, deadpan while pinching the bridge of his nose.

Damon stood up, walking over the drinks cabinet. "Simple, I prepare Bonnie so that she can lure him out of his hiding place and then I rip the guy's head off."

Stefan heaved a heavy sigh. "And if that backfires? Damon we have to be careful with Bonnie,"

"No Stefan, we need to use her to our advantage,"

Stefan scowled, shaking his head at Damon's self serving attitude. Typical. "We're doing it the way we've discussed, I'm gonna focus on finding the rebellion. You focus on Bonnie for now,"

Damon glowered at his younger brother. "Fine, whatever," Taking another swig of his liquor, Damon smiled impressively wide. "I mean, just cause we're on a little hunt, doesn't mean I can't have fun with the witch,"

"Damon,"

"Relax, Bonnie's my focus, remember?" He zinged to the door, turning to face Stefan one last time before calling it a night, or morning depending on how it was looked at. "How's our house guest?"

"Fed, but we can't hold her forever."

"Good, that would definitely make me cranky,"

"Cranky?" Stefan questioned, that was like saying Hulk only got a little mad.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Okay, crankier. And I can't believe I'm even asking this, because I despise your plans, but what is it?"

"I'm gonna let her go, and follow her to him,"

"Yep, hate it,"

"What's wrong with it?"

"Everything, I say you kill her and do some actual work, find him yourself, go on, don't you like a challenge?" He teased.

"She's extremely loyal to him; if I let her go the chances are she's go straight to him,"

"I've gotta say, I'm surprised your willing to let her loose in her current state. You know," Damon added with a whisper. "With the thirst problem she has,"

"I'll be watching her every step,"

"I mean, all she has could attack someone,"

"I'll watch her,"

Damon smiled, putting his hands up in surrender before leaving the room.

* * *

Elena woke up in an unknowing zombie trance having stayed up to the early hours with Bonnie talking about everything and anything, she showered, brushed her teeth vigorously for two minutes and combed her hair in the mirror. Only when she joined Jeremy in the kitchen did she frown to see there was no Bonnie, she'd assumed the petite morning bird would be eating breakfast or something.

"Where's Bonnie?"

Jeremy bit into his burnt toast. "She left already, left a note on the coffee table,"

Elena rushed around the sofa and picked up the small piece of paper, unfolding it to read before she looked up at Jeremy who was none the wiser.

"I could've swore I heard her talking to Stefan,"

"Bonnie," Elena murmured.

* * *

"Alright, alright," Damon yelled as he neared the banging door. The brisk walk pushed air through his unbuttoned shirt, making it flap to his side as he swung the door open, exposing his rippling stomach to Bonnie. Leaning against the frame, he smiled knowingly. "Morning,"

Bonnie swallowed, clenching and unclenching her clammy fists as Damon stared down at her with that same smug look he always had accept for when he was pissed, then his smile was unnervingly dangerous.

Having decided Mystical Falls needed help, Bonnie realized it was time she stepped up to the plate and the Salvatore's were giving her the perfect opportunity to do so. She never slept the night before, instead she focused on Elena's breathing while letting all the crazy and scary thoughts run through her mind, she thought of all the bad things that could happen until it exhausted her. Then she stood under the warm spray of water and let it wash away all of that fear and doubt, or at least that was the intention.

Damon hated how adorable it was when Bonnie drifted off, how adorable and incredibly irritating at the same time. "Have you just come to twinkle your little nose at me, or do you actually have something to say?" He huffed, though the smile ever apparent in his eyes revealed the playfulness in them.

"Yes," Bonnie spoke up, pushing her shoulders back with a deep and determined breath. "I'll do it, I'll work with you."

Damon bit on his lower lip before moving aside for her to step in, taking one last look outside he added "Interesting," and closed the door behind them.

***

Damon poured himself a drink, pausing to glance up at Bonnie who remained close to the living room entrance. "I've already fed, don't worry, or…do," He smiled, crookedly.

"Bit early in the day, isn't it?" Bonnie asked, morosely.

Damon grunted disapprovingly at her, shaking his head before he took a sip and walked towards her. "You have got to learn how to loosen up, Bonnie, or you'll miss out on all the fun," Now he was towering over her with his temptingly icy eyes.

"Ugh," Bonnie growled, moving further into the living room to avoid his deliberate 'come on', and to avoid him noticing how even the heat of him near made her tremble. "Having to spend time with the monster who tried to kill you isn't my idea of fun,"

"Such a party pooper," Damon said, inaudibly. With his back still to the petite Witch he took a deep breath to empty himself of the wave of sadness that filled him as she brushed past, Bonnie had glared with disdain and he saw it but he didn't feel it. Why did he feel anything?

Bonnie's head was down, eyes darting around and in between the curves of the carpet, her heart wouldn't slow, it never did when Damon was around but it was more than fear and she knew it, she could feel it. Bonnie felt him come up behind her with a speed she would never be able to comprehend, though she hadn't heard him, a gently breeze took off in her hair momentarily. "If I'm gonna trust you…" She breathed.

Damon rolled his eyes, who had said anything about trust? He'd heard her heart pounding in her chest and wanted to increase it, the fear and lust he knew she was fighting against and had been since he'd attacked her. Moving her hair off her shoulder, Damon traced his cold fingers down the curve of neck, chuckling as she spun around to face him.

"If I'm gonna trust you, then you have to do something for me,"

Damon smiled, eyes momentarily drawn to the pulsating vein in her neck. "Go on,"

"I want you to stop drinking blood,"

Damon chortled, Bonnie was something else but hell if he'd said he didn't like it he'd be lying to himself. "Tell you what, you stop breathing and we'll see who succeeds first," He said with biting sarcasm. "Anything else?"

"You didn't let me finish,"

"Because I was trying to avoid a headache," He sighed, rubbing the creases from his forehead. "Shouldn't you be in school, or something?"

Straightening herself up, Bonnie caught his eyes. "I'm not going back,"

Damon frowned, tilting his head sideways . "You rebel, you,"

"Not until this thing is over," Bonnie hoped Damon hadn't noticed the hitch in her breathing as she'd confessed her reasons for not going back to school, because the truth was it was the perfect excuse to step back from school, she'd been too hasty to go back so soon after her grams. "If you think you can go around feeding on Caroline or anyone else then I'm out,"

_I see you_. Damon thought, watching Bonnie fiddle with the loose threading of her purple Tee, school was no place for a grieving Witch, especially one with no comprehension of the magnitude of their own powers. She didn't realize how vulnerable she really was, and just how much he was going to use that to emerge the other side of her, the side she didn't even know existed. "I'm getting pretty bored with all these restrictions, first Stefan and now…you,"

"Do we have a deal?" Bonnie asked, though it was clear he fixing his mouth to tell her no in the most insulting or sarcastic way he could. "Damon," when he didn't answer, she rushed for the door in a huff, jumping back with her breath still caught in her throat as he appeared in front of her.

"We have a deal," He smiled, mischievously.

Bonnie nodded, smiling mildly.

"If," Damon added, swiping his devilish tongue across his lower lip. "If my little bird offers to donate some prime blood, until this thing is over," Crossing his arms, he smiled victoriously. "It's only fair,"

"No, no I can't," Bonnie stuttered with her heart threatening to burst as his _other _face flashed behind her lids.

"Oh well," Damon threw his hands up. "I mean, I guess I'll just have to tell Stefan that you were being impossible, we should sit back and wait for locals to go missing,"

"Wait," Bonnie said on cue, grinding her teeth as she saw his grin widen. "You feed on anyone in Mystic Falls and the deal is off,"

Damon bowed, happy to let her feel in charge if it got him what he wanted out of it. "And,"

"And…"

"Say it," Damon urged, ducking his head to meet her fear filled green eyes.

"I'll-give-you, blood, my blood,"

"Deal," Damon said, running his thumb down the vein protruding her neck. "See that wasn't so hard was it?"

"No," Bonnie whispered as he leaned close, so close she could feel his hot breath on her cheek. "You'll feed off my wrist,"

Damon leaned back, eyebrow raised. "Come again,"

"You never said anything about taking from my neck; you never added any specific conditions, only that you would feed from me. As long as you're getting blood,"

Damon's nose flared, Bonnie had somehow outwitted him while he relied on her fear to keep him in control of the situation.

_Bitch._

He felt the heat of his anger prickling his neck, and stepped into her personal space, he wanted nothing more than to bite her neck and spill her blood.

Bonnie stepped back so that the burning gaze of his eyes would feel less intense, she took a breath and she had no doubt he could hear the stress her heart was in but she had to stand her ground if she was ever gonna be rid of the fear that controlled her for so long. "You nearly killed me, Damon. I may look stupid, but I don't have a death wish,"

A smile split Damon's face in a second, realizing that he'd allowed her to see his loss of control not only over her but his own emotion made him swallow what she'd just done and suck it back up, he was Damon Salvatore, he was a monster and if it was the last thing he did, he would prove it to Bonnie. "Yay, a cookie for Bonnie," He smiled, dryly. "Smart ass,"

Bonnie was thankful that Damon had missed her jump as he sped to the desk to pour himself another beverage, one he wouldn't drink. "I want this to be over just as much as you do, so just help me Damon and it will be,"

He glanced at her sideways, sighing heavily. "First thing you need to know is…spells,"

Bonnie nodded hesitantly, withholding what she had planned for him. Damon was capable of being human; he'd proved that already by agreeing to even go along with Stefan's plan, by keeping Elena safe and returning her in one piece after Georgia and by following her around like he had been doing since she buried her Grams to make sure she was safe. What else would he be following her for? Be the reason self involved or not, she decided she would use it to her advantage.

Bonnie wouldn't have known it was him if she hadn't felt the wave of emotions empty him as they filled her up the other night when he came to Elena's, it was the same feeling she'd gotten at the funeral, after and since then only she knew it wasn't her own. Now she'd put the face to the volcano of emotions, all she had to do was force it to erupt.

"Follow me," Damon called over his shoulder, curling his finger at her as he headed out of the living room.

"Where are we going?"

Damon paused on the stairs and a smile threatened to take over his sullen face. "We're going to my room for a little, one on one."

* * *

"She shouldn't be alone, Stefan," Elena cried, pressing the phone to her ear so hard that the screen heated the side of her face.

Stefan walked at a distance but was vigilant in keeping Alex in eye shot, he'd gone down to the cell to talk to her, talk as though probing for more information all the while knowing that her loyalty whether gained through compulsion or otherwise wouldn't falter. Instead he brought her some blood and upon locking the door back, failed to secure it completely, with her growing strength he knew she would try to escape this time succeeding as she'd never have believed he was going to let her go without an ulterior motive.

"Elena, trust me," Stefan chimed in, voice low and comforting. "I would never let anything happen to Bonnie, but right now she needs Damon,"

"She left me a note,"

"I know," Stefan said, spinning deftly to elude Alex from noticing him as she spun around. He waited only a few seconds, all he could afford before turning back to continue his pursuit, Alex's paranoia had started drawing attention to her which was the last thing either of them needed.

"So she did call you,"

"Yes," He whispered.

"Why are you whispering?"

"I can't tell you right now, all I can tell you is that Damon will not hurt her." Stefan crossed the street after Alex did and paused as she rushed into the cemetery. "I'll call you, just, act normal," Stefan flipped his phone shut and pocketed it before speeding in.

"Right, act normal," Elena echoed, sarcastically as she stared at the screen.

**

"Help me,"

Stefan snaked his head around a tree and saw Alex talking to a man, he could see her face clearly but the guy she was speaking to was facing away. Stefan turned his head sideways to hear in on them when Alex lurched forward, throwing the guy to the ground, without a thought he rushed out of hiding.

"Alex!" He yelled as her teeth descended, his eyes widened a slight as her eyes turned black and she hissed at him, the transformation was beginning. "Don't," He warned, looking down to see horror on the young man's face. "Don't do it,"

Alex glared at him once last time and ran into the woods, leaving the guy lying on the ground. Stefan hoisted him up to his feet. "Are you okay?"

"That depends, was she about to eat me?"

Stefan sighed, leaning in as he rested a hand on the British guy's shoulder. "No, she tried to snatch your wallet, I came and she ran,"

"Why are you lying to me, and why are you looking at me like that?"

Frowning, Stefan caught the scent of Vervain. "Who are you?"

"I uh, I came back for my sister, she's gone missing. I got here yesterday," Offering a hand, he smiled. "I'm Uri,"

"What did she say to you?" Stefan asked, studying the dark eyed man's reactions.

"Um, she asked if I was the one, whatever that means," Uri chukled nervously.

Finally, Stefan hesitantly shook Uri's hand. "Stefan,"

~Fin~

Next chapter – All alone in Damon's room, what could they possibly get up to? Something naughty if Damon has anything to do with it. =D


	6. Sundrenched World

A/N: I'm so pissed that Bonnie hasn't been in the past few episodes, there is so much they can do with her and I hope they put her to use soon. I have however enjoyed the episodes, just not as much as I would if she were there.

For anyone who might have been confused about what happened with Uri and Alex, all is explained. I always have notes so I don't forget to tie my ends =D Of course I haven't tied them all now! Don't give up on the Salvatore brothers just yet. You KNOW Uri and what he's capable of, if the first time you saw him he was in the graveyard you'd see him as the victim first.

Quizas as always, thank you for the review love. To SkySamuelle *sheepish grin* I hope this chapter will make it up to you, I'm not used to writing epically long chapters so I cut it down. But no promises will avoid disappointment and virtual arse kicking's so, no more promises. LOL

Lastly, I've read this like 3 times today but sometimes mistakes still slip through the cracks. Forgive me if you catch any :D

Enjoy!

~ Noa

* * *

Chapter Title: Sundrenched World

_The sun had worn away as darker clouds settled above Mystic Falls', allowing those who usually couldn't roam take caution to the wind and mingle among others, possibly sniffing around for food if they were freshly turned. Like, Alex who was well on her way from a Night Crawler to a fully fledged vampire._

"_He's behind me," She breathed._

"_Stefan?"_

_Alex nodded, panic drying her lips as dread settled in her stomach. "He killed Joey," She cried, rubbing her burning eyes. "I haven't told him who you are, I would never…"_

_Uri gave a curt grin, quickly reaching into his pocket to pull out a small bottle of Vervain, as long as it didn't touch his skin he wouldn't be harmed. "How far behind is he?"_

"_What are you doing?"_

"_How far?" Uri growled, putting his hand up to stop her from talking as he heard the male voice near. _

"_I can't tell you right now Elena; all I can tell you is that Damon will not hurt her."_

_Uri smirked, popping the top off the small bottle off to spray the front of his coat and the sleeves with the herb. "Damn it," He grumbled lowly from the back of his throat as the unruly sprays burned into his hand like acid, eroding the skin._

"_What do I do?" Alex asked, eyes following where he threw the bottle._

"_Trust me," He hissed, pulling the sleeve over the roar flesh._

_Alex nodded._

"_He's watching us," Uri whispered, taking slow cautious steps away from her. "Do not question this just do it. Attack me,"_

_ ***_

Alex lurched forward, not needing to be told twice and slammed him hard against the ground as he let out a strangled call for help, looking into his eyes she trusted what he was doing was for her connection to him to go undetected. She wrapped her hand around his throat and squeezed, snapping her head towards Stefan as he ran from behind a tree.

"Alex," Stefan yelled as her teeth descended, his eyes widened slightly as hers slowly melted to black when she hissed at the man lying underneath her helplessly. The transformation was beginning, she was thirsting for blood and he'd been the one to let her out in the open. "Don't," He warned, watching the man closely, his face reddening and bloating as he struggled to breathe. "Don't do it,"

Alex looked down at Uri and let go as he bit his lip, he always bit his lip when he was getting angry. Glancing up at Stefan one last time she jumped up and ran into the woods away from the two men.

Stefan hoisted Uri up. "Are you okay?" He asked, wondering what he was doing there in the cemetery, that was until he remembered where they were and what Elena accused him off just because he happened to be there at the same time as her. Maybe the guy was visiting family, but maybe he was like Stefan had been in the cemetery for another reason.

"That depends, was she about to eat me?"

Stefan sighed, leaning in as he rested a hand on the British guy's shoulder, his eyes narrowed and his pupils grew bolder. "She tried to snatch your wallet, I heard your call and came and the girl ran,"

Uri looked at him puzzled. "Why are you lying to me and why are you looking at me like that?"

Stefan knew without feeding on human blood that his compulsion wouldn't be as powerful as a vampire who did but he wasn't completely without skills, his compulsion on humans usually worked. Eyebrows pulling together, Stefan studied the young man and caught the scent of Vervain. He was protected against compulsion, that either meant he was aware of vampires or someone he knew was and had opted to protect him. "Who are you?"

"I uh, I came back for my sister, she's missing. I got here yesterday." Offering a hand, Uri tried for a sheepish smile. He' d had plenty of practice not only fooling humans that he was one but also fooling vampires, however after having Laila do a little research on Stefan's stay at Mystic Falls he knew he would have his work cut out. "I'm Uri,"

Stefan hesitantly shook Uri's hand. "Stefan,"

Uri snapped his hand back as the sleeve threatened to fall back revealing his slowly healing skin. "I know you're dying to ask me, and you were completely un-phased by that bird's teeth. Am I right in thinking you're like me?"

"That depends, what are you?" Stefan asked, eyeing the sun forming behind a cloud. Vampires could roam if the day was dismal, cold and grey but they would have to be well hidden by the time the sun rose, if Uri was a vampire like him, if he'd attempted to set Stefan up he would know about it. All he had to do was keep the mysterious British guy out long enough for the sun to expose him.

Uri followed Stefan's eyes to the sun and smiled. "I don't know about you but I could use a coffee after what just happened,"

Stefan motioned ahead, letting Uri lead the way out of the cemetery.

* * *

"I won't do it," Bonnie said, adamantly. Trying not to focus on the vampire lying across his bed with his shirt still open, she began pacing the room.

"Why not?"

"Because Caroline and Matt are my friends,"

"Turning Caroline into a frog won't change that," Damon replied, mirthlessly.

"Are we gonna be serious?"

"I'm perfectly serious," He grunted, pushing himself up. "What about a few warts?"

"Damon,"

"Alright alright, just tryna loosen you up some,"

"I am loose," Bonnie said, eyes averting.

Damon stood up, sighing heavily as his moved towards her. "If only that were true," He whispered, rubbing the end of the curls that fell over her shoulder between his index finger and thumb.

Bonnie tapped his hand away, wanting to giggle when he rolled his eyes. "My grams had a ton of books on spells, how to cast them and break them, "

"Good and you've pretty much got the fire down," Damon gripped her shoulders and sat her down on his bed. "Do you know about Glamouring?"

Bonnie shook her head. "Grams and I never got that far,"

"For us it's hypnotizing, compulsion," Damon smirked. "But for a Witch, it's much more. You can create illusions, change your appearance,"

"Shape shift,"

Damon tsked. "No, the whole point of an illusion is to make people _believe_ you're something you're not. To deceive them, you wouldn't have to do any of that if you could shape shift,"

"Okay,"

"Okay, so, all you have to do is concentrate on another appearance,"

"Just like that?"

"You're a born witch Bonnie not a wannabe, so yeah, just like that,"

Bonnie stood up and took a deep breath, "Okay,"

"You might wanna close your eyes," Damon smirked as she glared before complying, using the opportunity to close the gap between them and breathe her in, a soft vanilla essence floated gently through the air making him stare down at her hungrily. "Breathe in, and out," He instructed, watching the steady rise and fall of her handful breasts intently.

Bonnie opened one eye, peeping at him and grunted. "How am I supposed to concentrate with you in my face?"

"Fine," Damon replied, turning towards the open bedroom door as he heard the front door go. "Stay here; I'll get rid of her,"

"Her?"

"Let's just say I have a fan," Damon winked as he strolled away.

"Ugh,"

"Don't worry, I'll let her know I have a girlfriend now," _Or play thing_. He thought as a cheeky grin flitted across his face.

"Just go," She said in a pained voice.

"Just go," Damon mimicked, heading out of the bedroom. "Keep practicing,"

Bonnie exhaled deeply, pushing her shoulders back as she focused on all the stories her grams had told her but soon decided against those as Emily featured heavily, instead she focused on herself and Elena and all the times they'd hung out.

****

After convincing Caroline's mom to give him another few days to get them more Vervain, he headed back towards his room, an arrogant smile gracing his lips as he watched the cougar undressing him with her eyes. What would his new friend think of that? There was something in those green eyes, her lips moved and words came out but it never matched those eyes, not when she was talking to him.

He wasn't supposed to like that. Generally, he didn't like people.

But Bonnie wasn't just a person; she was a witch and the best friend of Elena.

And she certainly didn't bore him as much as he'd have her believe so maybe he didn't make her skin crawl, like she'd have him believe, maybe he they _could _actually make use of their time together. Taking a lazy walk up the stairs, he could smell her scent, so light and fresh that before he realized it he was smiling, and at the risk of regretting the very thought Damon was tempted to admit in the privacy of his own mind that he was glad he wasn't _**alone**_.

However, his good mood was short lived as he walked back in his room; if his heart hadn't already ceased beating it would have right in that moment.

"I give up," Bonnie huffed, long chocolate brown ringlets falling down beside her face.

Damon froze in the doorway. "Katherine?"

* * *

"You're from England?" Stefan asked rhetorically, sliding onto the chair opposite Uri.

Uri smiled politely at the waitress as she placed his coffee down and left before returning his attention to the vampire. "Well done you," He chuckled. "I'm all over the place really but yes, I'm from England and only back here to find my sister,"

"The missing teen?" He asked, waiting for Uri to name her himself.

"Laila," Uri nodded. "I got a cryptic message from her the night before she disappeared, I'm sorry," He added, sobering up. "You don't need to hear my problems; we don't even know each other,"

Stefan's permanent scowl deepened. "It's fine. Uh, back at the cemetery, you said I was like _you_…"

Sipping on his coffee, Uri placed it down and looked around the half empty bar. "Well, if you were one of the things that attacked me in the cemetery I'd be dead. So, I can only assume you're one of us if you're not one of them,"

Uri's dodging didn't go unnoticed by Stefan, he was hiding something. "I'm ready to stop beating around the bush," With a hint of a smile, Stefan added. "When you are,"

"Okay," Uri sat forward, pressing his forearms against the table. "There are two types of people in the world of the aware, the vampires and their hunters,"

"Which are you?" Stefan asked, staring into his black eyes.

"I'm almost embarrassed to admit I'm the latter, after being an inch away from getting my head ripped off to make a crimson fountain," Leaning back casually, Uri slid his arm across the back of the chair. "The activity in Mystic falls is pretty mild compared though,"

"Compared?"

"Well, let's just say vampires aren't the only creatures lurking the night,"

"That's why you're soaked in vervain, so you can't be compelled,"

Uri nodded. "Not much of a defence though, not when you're trying to take out a werewolf," Pulling his jacket aside a little, he revealed a 92f chrome beretta with a black handle. "Holds 16 rounds, pure silver,"

"You're a hunter," Stefan sighed. Wasn't painfully farfetched, in fact it was kind of plausible.

"I'm a hunter, and I think, no I _know _that vampires snatched my sister. I wasn't sure until just now, when that girl attacked me; they're here, in Mystic Falls."

"Your eyes,"

Uri lowered his gaze and smiled wickedly, he knew it was coming. "Born with them, it's not uncommon you know,"

Stefan glanced over his shoulder as the sun came in and didn't fail to notice Uri pulling his outstretched hand away to rest on his lap as a ray of sunlight danced across the table. The young mystery man was right, black eyes weren't uncommon but they weren't very common either, and _his _eyes, well they were a marble black, absorbing everything but reflecting nothing. While Uri could read those who surrounded him easily it would be more than difficult to return the favour.

"Are you a hunter too?" Uri asked.

"Uh, no," Stefan breathed.

"So how'd you know that girl?"

"Sorry,"

"You called her Alex; you knew what she was,"

"I just know things, about vampires," And how weak did that sound? He was the one doing the interrogating and now he sounded unbelievable.

"Right," Uri said, brow raised slightly. "Kind of unavoidable, with all the animal attacks around here, I'd like to ask the local cops what their IQ's are. What wild animal do you know of can drain its victim of blood and leave the body intact? A lion? Pull the other one,"

Stefan chuckled, half heartedly. "Mmm," Thanks to Damon's new found connections Stefan knew what the cops thought of the situation but he wasn't going to be naïve enough to share with someone he didn't know, someone he suspected could be in Mystic Falls for a number of reasons. "So, uh, any clues about your sister? You know where she might be?"

"No, but I do know one thing,"

"What?"

"Orlando St. Clair is here in town, and going down,"

A hunger Stefan was familiar with revealed itself in Uri's smile and the way he'd bitten his lip red. "Orlando?" He quizzed. "Here?"

"He's the one who started all of this, the creator of the Night Crawlers. Stupid bastard humans volunteer themselves as pets to those blood suckers, someone in this town brought them here," Uri explained, studying the younger Salvatore's reaction as he went on. He wasn't stupid enough to think Stefan wouldn't expect someone new in town just when all this was happening, but he also wasn't smart enough, or sane enough to care. Well, not as much as he should.

"Do you think your sister…?" Stefan paused. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insinuate…"

"No, you're fine Stefan. God knows what she was up with me no longer being around," Uri's eyes turned icy. "I know I'm going to rip his head off, Orlando, I'm going to kill every single fang in this town if they get in my way,"

Stefan nodded, solemnly. "How uh," He cleared his throat. "How'd you plan on tracking St. Clair down?"

"Oh that's easy, only the cocky bastards hide in plain sight," Uri chuckled, gladly falling into that category. "He's right over there,"

Stefan sucked in the air greedily as his heart slammed against his chest. "What?"

Uri sipped on his coffee, nodding behind Stefan. "Meet Orlando St. bloody Clair,"

Stefan turned around slowly, eyes settling on a black guy with the build of a gladiator and the wild eyes of a jaguar, bright and almost yellow. He'd never laid eyes on the man, only on the myth, only by word of mouth and now there sat the vampire, four hundred years old, powerful, calculated and feared. Women flocked around him and Stefan wondered how he hadn't noticed him when they first arrived, his teeth grazed gently across his lower lip pensively.

"I've been waiting for him, she mentioned him in her letters. If anyone knows, he does," Uri pushed out of his chair, clenching his fists and startling Stefan out of his musing.

Stefan put his hand out. "Hey, calm down and think about this,"

"I'm not waiting around any longer, Stefan, my sister…" Taking a deep shaky breath, Uri glared down at Stefan. "He's scum, an arsehole with fangs, "

Stefan rushed to his feet as Uri began to move away from the table, while Orlando sat with his company obliviously. "Wait,"

"It was nice meeting you, it really was, but _this_ is what I do, back off," Uri moved aside.

Stefan again, stepped in front of him, this time placing a hand on Uri's chest. "Listen to me for a minute, I'm not a hunter you're right, but I know of this guy, he's very old, centuries old…"

"So, you're saying his powerful and a half?"

"Exactly,"

"I don't give a shit,"

"Uri, that's suicide. And are you really going to put all these people at risk? Their innocent, like your sister," Stefan glanced over his shoulder at the vampire who was seemingly none the wiser; and risking exposure as well as death by sunlight roaming with the weather as unsteady as it was.

Uri heaved a heavy sigh and sat back down. "Well he's here for someone or something, him and his little minions, but his NOT leaving with my sister,"

Stefan nodded, once again glancing over, this time catching the fancy looking vampire in the eyes. He found he was unable to break contact, Orlando had Stefan pinned in his glare and was drawing him in until he felt a prick in his hand and snatched it away, turning to face Uri. "Ow,"

"I just saved your arse," Uri admitted, placing the fork back down.

"What?"

"I thought you knew him, any longer and he'd have had you walking out into the road with oncoming traffic,"

"He can compel vampires too," Stefan deduced, underneath his breath.

"What?" Uri asked, leaning in.

"Huh, oh nothing,"

"Vervain isn't as strong either, not with a born vampire,"

"Born?"

"He's mother was a vampire when she got turned, he was born one,"

"So he can walk in the sun?"

"Vampires can't walk in the sun. What do you think this is? I guess you expect him to blind you with his glittering nipples too?"

"He's stuck in here until the sun goes down,"

"Or sticks itself behind a cloud," Uri leaned back, rushing a hand through his hair. "You shouldn't have stopped me you know, I was just going to talk to him,"

"With your fists, or how about that gun of yours," Stefan whispered.

"He might be strong but 16 bullets to that meaty head of his would have him screaming like anyone else," A smile slid on to his face. "Besides, guns aren't the only thing I keep under this coat of mine,"

"And then what?"

Uri remained quiet, eyes knowingly meeting Orlando's before he answered. "I don't know, I like to freestyle," He added with a smug but abrupt grin. "Anyway, I've gotta go, get dinner in. My mum won't get out of bed," He continued, standing up to straighten out his long coat. It had been a day or so since he'd brought poor Claudia anything, not that she needed him today with Laila doting on her and trying to make her understand why her house was full of blood thirsty skin wasters. Every time the sun came up she had guests.

Stefan's face strained with sympathy, eyes understanding. "I hope you find her,"

"I don't need hope," Uri winked, he wasn't the type to believe in hope getting him anywhere, only actions would, fast and sometimes brutal but every war, even one he fought alone had casualties. "Nice meeting you Stefan, be safe won't you. I don't want to have to waste time saving your arse,"

Stefan chuckled half heartedly. "To me it looked like I was the one doing the saving,"

Uri winked, flapping his coat across his chest. "She caught me off guard, won't happen again,"

"I hope so, I don't wanna have to waste another afternoon saving your…ass," Stefan smiled, although he felt he couldn't trust the man and knew he wouldn't completely, Stefan felt sympathy for the hunter. "If you need help with any…"

"One man mission," Uri slapped Stefan's shoulder playfully, relieved to see the roar skin on his hand had healed up. "You're not half bad, Stefan,"

"See you around,"

Uri rounded the table, sending a wink at Orlando before putting his head down and heading out the door. He knew Stefan would still be watching him, waiting for him to pass the final test that might just kill the instincts he had about Mystic Falls' newcomer, Uri tied up his head revealing a tattoo at the back of his neck and then pushed his hands into his pockets.

Sighing, he looked up into the sky as the sun pushed through the now fluffy clouds and smiled before turning back to Stefan and waving curtly.

Stefan nodded and watched as Uri disappeared under the suns harsh rays, brows drawing together as Elena came in where he left.

Little did he know tonight would the night, the night Laila became a vampire.

* * *

"What did you call me?" Bonnie asked; eyes wide with horror.

Damon watched in disbelief as he saw Katherine stood in front of him, hair, clothes, even scent exactly the way he remembered, only it was Bonnie he'd left in his room, practicing and learning how to create illusions. "Katherine,"

"What are you…?" Bonnie turned to the mirror and saw Elena, Katherine, then she stumbled back and caught Damon's demonic glare. "I didn't…I don't know how this…"

"Stop it," Damon spat. "Get rid of her,"

"I don't know how to,"

"I'm going to say it one last time," Damon hissed, eyes switching between blue and bloody blue. The anger was rising to a devastating level; he spun giving Katherine his back to resist the urge to tear her throat open. "Bonnie!"

"Damon, please," Bonnie cried, only he couldn't hear her voice, he could only hear Katherine's.

Damon ran for her and in a split second was lifting her into the air and pushing her against the wall, his fangs pointy weapons reflecting in Katherine's horror stricken green orbs, if it wasn't for those green eyes Damon never would have been able to remember the difference. Before he knew it her hair was a gleaming black and her skin was a caramel brown, a tear slid down her cheek as he lowered her down. "I'm s…" He couldn't bring himself to say it.

Bonnie held her throat and ran out of the room without looking back, only when she reached the door and flung it open she found something telling her not to leave him like that. The crippling loneliness, the bustling anger and pain rippled inside of her, a big ball of energy creating a tight knot in her stomach, for _him_. "Damon," She breathed.

Damon was slumped at the end of the bed unmoving when Bonnie came back, she watched him from the doorway, felt the pain and hurt over Katherine's betrayal penetrate her more intensely than before shaking her to the core, his feelings so extreme he stole her breath away. She was holding on to the door frame so tight her knuckles blanched, and her heart pounded in her ears to think of how close Damon was to hurting her again.

He wasn't trying to hurt her.

He was trying to hurt Katherine.

As though she could hear the questions that paled his skin even more so than it already was, she took one tentative step in. "Elena, she told me about Katherine. That night when you came over looking for Stefan, after the two of you left, we, well we promised to protect each other with the truth,"

"An adorable story," Damon said, deadpan.

"I need you, Damon," Bonnie felt her heart skip as his head rose but didn't turn to her, she felt a wave of longing, it slowly grew persistent giving Bonnie butterflies.

"You're breaking my heart," Damon said, fighting his own desires to need and be needed.

"No, Katherine did that, didn't she?" Bonnie asked; voice soft and almost inaudible.

Damon glared over his shoulder then, eyes threatening. "You don't know what you're talking about, so I suggest," He stood and faced her, his stare growing cold and unforgiving. "You just leave before I do something, you _and_ Stefan will regret," Damon added a curt grin and gave her his back.

Bonnie took another step, torn between running and staying _with him_. "I won't mention her, if that's what you want,"

"Fine," He retorted.

"Fine," Bonnie sighed, relieved when his shoulders fell and took her cue to approach him. Hesitantly coming to stand in front of the intimidating vampire, she looked up to meet his eyes once more and reached up slowly to touch Damon's face when he snatched her wrist.

"What are you doing?"

"…I thought it would a good idea to give the glamour a rest, and sometimes when I touch people or something someone else has touched, I see things,"

"Prophetic things?"

Bonnie nodded, relaxing a little when he let go of her wrist. "You're so cold," She confessed as her palm pressed against his cheek.

Damon's smiled mischievously. "I know of one or two ways _we _can change that,"

"Why'd you have to be so…all the time?" The witch questions, letting her hand fall to her side.

"New flash, I'm a vampire," It was a lame excuse but he was sticking with it, given the chance he'd sleep with Bonnie but he knew she'd never go for someone like him, something like him, a monster. Elena was none the wiser when she met Stefan but this one, well she was more than clued in and knew exactly what razor sharp teeth felt like in her flesh, his teeth. Not that he wanted her for anything more than a sex toy of course.

"Is that your only defence?"

"It's fact,"

"Vampire or human, we all do things to protect ourselves, Damon,"

Damon stiffened, eyes pinning her where she stood. "I don't need protecting from anything,"

"Then why'd it just get cold in here?"

"Who knows?" He replied with sarcasm.

"Maybe I said something that was true,"

"Do you ever stop talking?"

"Do you?"

Smirking, Damon moved closer until his nose was threatening to touch hers. "When I'm busy doing _other_ things,"

Bonnie's teeth grazed across her bottom lip as she felt his breath teasing her skin. The small and delicately built Witch was no virgin but relations with a vampire? Well that was something else entirely, that was playing with fire and inviting it to burn you. She wasn't the most experienced out of her friends and never made a habit of casual flings, it had never appealed her personally but she might as well of been one to even consider doing _anything_ with Damon.

Damon pulled away, smiling knowingly at her long contemplative silence. "I'm hungry,"

_Did I just get teased?_ "What?" Bonnie only realized her eyes had fallen closed when Damon's voice snapped them open again.

"I don't know about you but I'm famished," His eyes flashed wider as he licked his lips. "And I've been dying, to taste you again," Damon smiled as her mouth fell open. "And that sounded way dirty,"

Taking a deep breath, Bonnie rolled up her right shirt sleeve and hesitantly offered her wrist, palm turned up in front of him as she waited with dread. "Here,"

Damon rolled his eyes with impatience and took her hand instead of her wrist before spinning her around and pushing against her. "Relax,"

He didn't usually play with food but like it or not she was more than that and if they were going to…get on, Damon was going to make sure he helped her along, in turn helping himself along, right up to her neck _again_.

"How can I? You're about to feast on me,"

"If you relax, you might just enjoy it as much as I'm going to," Pulling her hair away from her shoulders, Damon ran his hands down Bonnie's arms and back up again before leaning into her ear to whisper. "Are you scared?"

"…No,"

A smile played with the corners of his mouth as he leaned into Bonnie's neck, fingers gently drumming a trail down the curve and then pressed his lips against her warm skin. He felt his groin ache as she gasped, arching her back against him and kissed her neck harder when she didn't move or run away from it, from him.

What was he doing? Turning himself on? Trying to turn her on? Just drink.

Yet, he kept kissing, licking, teasing.

Bringing her right arm above her head, he left a trail of hot kisses, turning his head towards her exposed wrist as he entwined his fingers with her own. Feeling the blood rush to his face when his teeth descended, Damon kept control of his urge to feed savagely and carelessly, Bonnie was so delicate that he daren't taint the innocence he was involuntarily growing so fond of.

Sucking on her wrist a few seconds, Damon pierced the skin with as much care as a hungry vampire could offer and began to drink from her life force, unprotected from the rush of emotions that came with it, lust, fear, determination, empathy and care, _for him_? Her soft moans grew distant as he continued to drink, the blood so rich and intoxicating he felt as though he were swimming in her, Damon was compelled by it, by Bonnie.

Pulling away abruptly, he stumbled back and turned around clamping his jaw shut as his fangs disappeared behind his gums.

"Damon?" Bonnie called softly, still able to feel the sensation of his lips around her wrist. "What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

"No!" He growled, voice breaking huskily.

"Did you get enough?"

_No._ "Yes,"

"Well then w…"

"Look, since when are you pro vampire, huh?" Damon interjected. "I could've sucked you dry, and you ask if I got enough,"

"Sorry, I…"

"Moving on," Damon said, brows lifting at her momentarily. "Where were we?"

Bonnie's eyes fell on the two holes, precise and clean on her wrist before pulling her sleeve over the mark. "We were…" Her mouth fell open as Damon pulled her hand towards him, pictures and feelings flooded in spontaneously and scattered in her brain, behind her lids and then they were gone again.

Damon's practiced smile faded. "What did you see?"

"I don't know, exactly," Bonnie looked up at him. "But it didn't feel good at all,"

Amongst the confusing pictures and feelings downloading, the most prominent was fear but not for herself for Damon, all she could see clearly was blood, everywhere, dripping from her hands, crowding her feet and leaving a metallic taste in her mouth. Damon's blood…

Was Damon in danger?

* * *

~ Fin~


	7. Believer

A/N: Huge thanks as usual to Quizas for the lovely review, also a thanks to Chucky and ADamonFan82, after this chapter it won't be so day by day chapter by chapter, I'm hoping to pick it up so..

There are a couple of reasons this has taken me so long to post, one of them being that I was working on a novel and have finally finished it at 117,000 words, I won't even attempt to edit it until I'm done with this story. Another reason was my horribly unreliable laptop which I have finally replaced! I can't promise I won't fall off the radar again but I know it won't be for four months! Had I not received a few pm's which I was very grateful for I would never have believed it had been that long, thanks for reminding me.

Enjoy!

~ Noa

* * *

Chapter Seven: Believer

"Hey," Elena said softly, leaning in to kiss Stefan before sliding into the seat Uri had been in minutes before.

Stefan just about registered as he continued to stare the way Uri had just left, he went over everything they'd talked about and found himself staring at Orlando again, with eyes so compelling and yet so haunting he considered Uri was telling the truth but there still something niggling him.

"Hello, earth to Stefan," Elena smiled warily, waving her hand in front of his face until he looked up at her and smiled half heartedly. "What's wrong?"

"Uh, nothing, yet,"

"Stefan, tell me," Elena said in all seriousness.

"Alex got away," He breathed.

"What? Stefan how…"

It hadn't hit him as hard until he said it aloud, unless she went straight to wherever the Night Crawlers were hiding out then Mystic Falls was in danger of losing a local and it would be his fault for being careless. Damon would have a field day, convincing Stefan that these 'unforeseen' events meant that they should maybe go with a better plan, a Damon plan.

The only thought that relieved him was knowing the unstable weather would force Alex into hiding, at least until sundown.

"I was hoping she would lead me to the rebel Night Crawler but instead it led me to St Clair,"

"The old vampire…" Glancing around briefly, Elena readjusted the level of her voice. "You mean the one who started this halfway thing?"

Stefan nodded. "Alex almost tore this guy's head off in the cemetery, and he just happened to be Laila's brother,"

"Oh my God," Elena cried, covering her mouth.

"There was something about him, I don't know," Stefan brushed his thumb across his lower lip thoughtfully. "After seeing him with Alex I thought he was the one I was looking for,"

It wasn't exactly a common thing for vampires to be strolling in the sunlight all casual like, and neither was the ring he and Damon had acquired. Stefan studied Uri from the moment he met him to the second he left, heavy coat, black eyes and a smile, and there was the whole wanting to kill one of the oldest vampires he'd known of but there was no huge ring.

No huge anything.

"And now?"

"Now I think I have one more thing to do," Stefan wanted badly to follow Orlando to his hide out but he was torn between doing that and checking out Uri's story, all while figuring out how to keep Elena and the rest of the town safe from fresh vampire, Alex.

"Whatever you're thinking, I'm in," Elena chimed, matter- of-factly.

Stefan looked at her wearily. "Elena,"

"No Stefan, Bonnie is involved in this now. And I am too,"

Stefan huffed and then stood, flipping his phone open as Elena joined him and called in a favour that he knew he'd regret.

* * *

Bonnie paced the room, the feeling of despair and failure that had waved over her finally subsiding, allowing her to breathe easier and feel warmer. Though the taste of blood hadn't left her mouth, the images of it surrounding her feet had, and that was something considering both at the same time had threatened to drop her to her knees minutes ago.

"It didn't feel good. Okay, that's not vague at all," Damon said, leaning against his dresser.

Looking up into Damon's eyes, a feeling of loss waved through her. "I saw blood, your blood Damon...I think,"

That had piqued Damon's curiosity. "You see anything else in that pretty little head of yours?"

"Just blood and I felt so cold," Bonnie wrapped her arms around herself as her skin pimpled, like a cool air crept beneath the window to wrap her in its whirlwind, and then it was gone again.

Damon' eyes flashed wide as he smiled. "Ooh, maybe you bite me back," He joked. "That'd be hot,"

"Except, I'm not a vampire,"

Rolling his eyes, Damon pushed off the dresser to stand in front of her. "Makes things even more interesting," He felt a tug in his gut as her green eyes met his own and brushed past her to regain himself. He just about resisted the urge to touch her again, but her feelings of desperation and panic had overwhelmed him which only added frustration to the list of emotions that had flooded him since spending time with Bonnie.

"Damon what if you get hurt, what if you die?" And why did she even care?

Damon chortled, unexpectedly at that considering he'd done the dying thing already. "You don't have to worry about that," He replied flippantly.

"Damon seriously,"

"Listen…Bonnie, nothing's gonna happen to me, I'm a vampire,"

Bonnie grunted. "You say that like it means invincible,"

"There you go, you're getting it," Damon smiled mirthlessly, as he stared at the clock on her wrist.

"I mean, like die for good..."

"Bless your little heart, you're worried about me,"

Bonnie swallowed. "What...uh, no, no I'm not,"

"Ooh that tickles," He teased, glancing down at his leg.

"What does?" Bonnie frowned.

Damon sighed, reaching into his pocket and flipped his phone open. "You've reached the better looking Salvatore, don't leave a message unless you want me to bite," He winked at Bonnie, smiling when she sneered at him.

"Now's not the time, Damon. We've got a problem," Stefan grumbled.

"And what would that be, little brother?"

"I lost Alex,"

"Well, so go find her Lassie," Damon grimaced, wanting to slap his palm against Stefan's forehead; this was the kid who'd gone back to school more times than he could count.

"I can't, I'm following a lead. I need you find her before the sun goes down,"

"Following a_ lead_?" Damon enunciated. "Oh, okay, Starsky, I'll just get right on that."

"Damon,"

Taking a deep breath, Damon locked eyes with Bonnie once more. "You owe me for this one," He flicked his phone shut and buried it in his pocket before reaching over the bed for his leather jacket.

"Seriously? Starsky and Hutch,"

Damon slid his arms into the jacket. "One of the cons of being alive so long, let's go,"

"Where are we going?" Bonnie asked panic setting in as she quick stepped behind him.

* * *

"Stefan, where are we going?" Elena asked, struggling to keep up with Stefan's long strides from the grill.

"To see how Laila's mom is coping,"

"Why are we rushing?"

Stefan wanted to get there with enough time to speak to Laila's mother before Uri got there, because if the young hunter was actually telling the truth then he'd be out getting his inconsolable mothers dinner in.

"Stefan?"

"Uh, I just wanna talk to her alone,"

"You think she knows something, about Laila's disappearance?"

"I don't know,"

Stefan paused outside the cream house, the windows were shadowed, the front porch looked as though it hadn't been swept for months and the newspaper pile up lay scattered at the feet of the swinging bench as he and Elena approached the door.

Stefan kept Elena close to him, an arm outstretched across her stomach as he knocked on the door with his free hand, after a few moments passed he knocked again but with Uri probably fast approaching he wouldn't have time to talk to her unless he let himself in.

"Elena go home, I'll meet you back at yours,"

Elena's eyes widened."Why?" She asked, looking around.

Stefan turned to face her, placing both hands on her shoulders. "Trust me, okay?" He paused as Elena's eyes averted his and turned to see a woman at the door.

"Who are you?"

"Hi, Mrs. Benjamin, I'm Stefan and this is my girlfriend, Elena. We're Laila's friends, can we come in?

"Laila didn't mention either of you," Mrs. Benjamin confessed, pulling her pink robe closed as she sat down. "She didn't have many friends,"

"We're sorry, Mrs. Benjamin," Elena spoke softly.

"Please, call me Claudia,"

Elena smiled solemnly. "I knew your daughter through a friend of mine, Bonnie,"

Claudia lifted her eyes then. "Bonnie, sweet girl, yeah Laila liked her,"

Stefan stood with his arms crossed while Elena sat close to Claudia, he needed a clear view of the house, where the rooms where, the kitchen and bathroom so that as soon as he had the chance he could escape. Standing over the pair as they sat, Stefan noticed a scarf around her neck almost hidden beneath the robe, a frown wrinkled his forehead as he took a step forward, questioning whether a bite would be hidden behind it.

"Are you cold?" Stefan asked, pointing towards it.

Claudia looked down briefly, offering a smile at the question. "The boilers busted or something, it gets really cold sometimes," She pulled her robe open, revealing sweats. "Uri says he's gonna fix it but...he's distracted,"

"Would you like me...I could take a look if you want,"

Claudia shook her head. "I wouldn't want to trouble you, its fine, and Uri will tend to it."

"I like the colour, can I see it?" Elena asked, relieved when Claudia pulled it from her neck and handed it over to her.

"Laila would collect all the colours for me,"

"It's beautiful," Elena glanced at Claudia neck noting the absence of any abrasions or holes.

Stefan nodded, looking towards Elena and then upstairs before smiling faintly.

Elena raised a brow at him for a moment before getting the hint and coughing suddenly, her hands flew up to her throat as she continued to choke. "I think I swallowed my gum,"

"You okay?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah, uh, Mrs. Benjamin could I trouble you for some water?"

Claudia nodded lightly and then stood up gesturing for Elena to follow her into the kitchen, while Stefan smiled politely watching them go, Elena looked over her shoulder at him one last time before disappearing through the door. Stefan sped up the stairs and looked around, finding himself in the mothers room, there were no pictures that stood out, in fact there was nothing that stood out, everything was pretty plain and understandably unkempt.

Listening out for voices, he checked that Elena was still keeping Claudia's attention in the kitchen before sneaking into the bedroom next door, assuming that it would be Laila's but he was surprised to find an art studio.

Oil and acrylic paints, blank canvases, drying racks and sketch pads, it had a boyish feel to it with the dark coloured walls and dark bed sheets but then he'd never had the chance to meet Laila, for all he knew she could've been a tomboy.

Stefan sped back down the stairs and checked the bedroom on the other side of the staircase, as soon as he opened the door he knew he was in Laila's room, and it wasn't just because of her posters of Gwen Stefani and Breaking Benjamin or her collection of body sprays and creams, it was the overwhelming loneliness he felt. He got the sense that her room had been left exactly how it was when Laila was there, her sheets were still ruffled and her school books were sprawled on her desk like she'd left her homework half done.

Stefan ran his finger down the spine of her closed journal tempted to flick it open when he heard Elena talking louder than necessary as she thanked Claudia for the water, a picture on her window ledge caught his eye of a girl and a boy as children as he left the room, he assumed it was Laila and Uri.

Stefan ran into the living room and stood by the front door as Claudia and Elena emerged from the kitchen. "We should go, I just wanted let you know that we're here if you need anything,"

Claudia smiled. "Thank you,"

"Tell Uri if he needs anything, he only has to call," Stefan added.

"I will,"

Elena and Stefan glanced at each other. "Bye,"

Claudia stepped forward. "Maybe you could wait for him, he should be back soon,"

"Nah, we can't," Stefan said, gently edging Elena towards the front door while he kept his smiling eyes on Claudia. "I'll catch Uri later,"

"Or you could catch me now,"

Stefan whipped his head towards the open door, greeted with Uri's charming grin and liquid black eyes.

"Mum, I'll be right back," Uri called behind him, pulling the door closed. "What are you doing here, Stef?"

"I uh, just wanted..."

"To check up on me?" Uri smirked, eyeing Elena. "You don't trust me do you?" Taking the silence as an answer Uri nodded, patting Stefan on the shoulder. "Good, you shouldn't,"

"Why's that?"

"Because I don't trust you either," Uri moved around and in between Stefan and Elena as though they were prey with an antagonizing smile on his face, in actual fact Uri was happy to play the role of the mouse, they were more than humans gave them credit for, they were disgusting, disease spreading rodents, true, like vampires but they were also remarkable at adapting to any environment they inhabited, they made the cat and mouse game what it was. A challenge...

Stefan was the sharp, flexible, quick reacting _domesticated_ cat that was too busy chasing the street wise mouse in circles; if only the cat stopped running the mouse would come back around full circle skidding right into the belly of the furry little beast. Oh, how sentimental cats were, protecting their home and family while wanting to stray themselves, give a little kitty milk and watch it meow.

"I'm going on a hunt tonight,"

Stefan frowned. "St Clair,"

"No, I have slightly smaller fish to fry tonight," Uri smiled wickedly, eyes searching out Elena's downcast stare. "The pretty blond who tried to make me her snack,"

"Alex,"

"Alex?" Uri echoed. "So you know her, come to think of it, you were talking to her when she attacked me,"

Stefan shared a brief but wary look with Elena.

Uri slid between them, wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders. "Well, I hope she wasn't too special because I'm going to have to take her out,"

"We think she's one of St Clair's, I was hoping to find out when she got away,"

"Aah," Uri pouted, mocking sympathy as he untangled himself to place a hand on his heart. "Well at least she's not related,"

"We should go," Elena said, shifting her weight from her left to her right leg.

"Yeah," Stefan answered.

"I'm keeping things from you, like you're keeping things from me but it doesn't make either of us the bad guy, remember that," Uri said.

Elena started to walk down the steps when Uri gripped Stefan's arm. "I'll be staking out the creepy cemetery tonight, if you're up for it, there's donuts involved,"

Stefan smiled half heartedly. "Maybe, be careful,"

"You too,"

"Oh and Uri, its Stefan,"

"Gotcha," Uri smirked, waiting for the pair to walk away before going back into the house to join Claudia _and_ Laila.

"Did I do okay?" Claudia asked.

"You were great..._mum_," Uri gave her shoulder a light squeeze, eyes shooting towards the bedroom door as he heard the window slam shut.

"Laila told me why you're here; I need to know she'll still be her, my little girl, Laila,"

Uri's eyes remained on the door as Mrs. Benjamin droned on. "Little girls don't drink blood,"

"I know, but I mean, she won't be different, she'll still be my daughter,"

"I promise," Laila said, emerging from the bedroom.

Claudia flew towards her, squeezing her close and smelling her hair, she was still Laila. "I don't wanna lose you,"

"This way you won't," Laila said, pulling away to stroke her mom's hair away from her face. "We can go back to normal," Laila turned to Uri. "I did my Mystic Falls homework, like you asked. I know you have something doing tonight but...how much longer do I have to wait?"

"Your waiting days are over, Laila. Tonight you become a vampire,"

* * *

Damon and Bonnie had been just about every creepy dark place they could think of, and there weren't that many in Mystic Falls but Alex was nowhere to be seen and it was getting dark outside, the sun had long since left the sky. The arrogant vampire had enjoyed the first half hour listening to Bonnie panic and wreck her little brain trying to figure out what he had in store for her, what their little mission from Stefan was but after that half mark the Witch had definitely ran out cute.

He'd been walking so long, in a Damon bubble that he hadn't realized Bonnie was no longer behind him until the vanilla scent disappeared, frowning, Damon whipped around to see her a few feet away with her arms crossed.

"Oh c'mon, don't you trust me?"

"No. I don't," Bonnie scowled. "I'm not moving until you tell me what's going on?"

"I don't have time for this," Damon stated. "Move your ass,"

"No," Bonnie said, petulantly. "Not until..."

"What?"

Her heart stopped for a millisecond when Damon appeared right in front of her, temporarily winding her with his incandescent blue eyes and tall dark handsomeness not to mention the perfectly shaped eyebrows now crumpled as he scowled at her, he had so much potential to look sexy in that moment if he weren't so damn pissy.

"I thought you made it clear you didn't like the shoulder thing,"

"I don't,"

"Then tell your brain to move your legs," Damon heard a branch from a least a hundred feet snap and turned his head in its direction.

"Just tell me!"

Turning back to Bonnie, refreshed mask of nonchalance, Damon looked at her from head to toe, so fragile. "We're hunting,"

"Hunting?"

"As in stalking a vampire, Alex, she got away from Stefan," He explained, unconsciously grasping her hand to keep them moving forward and out of the forest.

"You're going to kill her,"

"Either that or let her kill the precious residents of this town," Damon's eyes darted around and in between the thinly layered branches, he knew they weren't in the woods alone.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I knew you'd turn into a pool of mess, and I'm no maintenance man," He said, matter-of-factly.

"You say it like you know me, you don't know me, Damon," Bonnie fumed, realizing in that moment that she was being pulled but when she tried to wriggle free of his grip it tightened. "What is it?" Bonnie asked, using all her might to pull him to a halt.

"We're not alone anymore,"

"Alex?"

"When I tell you to run you do it," Damon looked down at their clasped hand as she did but it was though he'd lost all feeling in his arm because he couldn't pull it away, he told himself to quit talking soft but every time he told himself to let go nothing happened, he _needed_ to protect her.

"I'm not running,"

"If I tell you to get out of here you don't question me,"

"You don't own me, and you don't tell me what to do. I am not running,"

"We didn't exactly get to killing vampires101 today," Damon's intentions for Bonnie were unknown even to him, he could've taken her home first, it's probably what Stefan had expected but he didn't, Damon had been careless yet he hadn't counted on being so protective.

"I don't care," As scared as she was about taking on a vampire, she was forced to remember the lecture Damon gave her about embracing her...badass!

The sound was close this time and it was right ahead of them, catching their attention simultaneously, they immediately let go of each other's hand and faced head on waiting for Alex to attack.

"C'mon out, Alex," Damon cried out with boredom, moving slightly in front of Bonnie.

Bonnie glared at the back of his head before moving to his side. "We'll be out here all night,"

Damon smirked. "Why don't you show our shy friend a little trick, show her what happens when she plays with_ fire_,"

Bonnie smiled, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. When she opened them again, her eyes were alive with green fire, so intense and focused on the shadows a few feet in front of them that a moment later the bushes were ablaze and dancing reflectively in Damon's blue eyes.

There was no question that Damon was impressed but he hated to admit that he was also a little turned on by her haunted side, her fighting spirit pushing through that soft delicate skin. Damon caught a movement at the corner of his eye and sped towards it without a second thought; he spun Alex around narrowing his eyes on the hooded girl.

"Dun dun dun," Damon sung.

* * *

"I'll be fine, Elena," Stefan reassured. "Bonnie's fine considering,"

"Considering what?" Elena asked.

"Considering she had to spend the entire day with my Damon,"

"Oh...yeah,"

"I have to make sure Uri's alright; I don't think he knows what he's really got himself into,"

"Even so, he sounds arrogant enough to get himself out of it,"

Stefan smiled. "I can't have Uri running into Damon, somehow I don't think it'd be pretty. I gotta go, I'll call you,"

"Okay...Stefan?"

"Yeah,"

"I love you,"

"I love you too," Stefan hung up the phone as he headed through the big gates looking for Uri but instead he found he was being followed, eyes ahead and shoulders relaxed, Stefan kept walking, deeper into the cemetery so that they were far away from prying eyes.

"Alex," Stefan said, slowly turning around.

Out from the shadows stepped the blond vampire, eyes deep and dark like the woods. "Stefan,"

"Hungry?" He asked, moving closer to her.

"Like you wouldn't believe," She replied, licking her lips.

"Come with me, I'll get you something to drink,"

"No thanks, I'm a Night Crawler now. We have a set of rules we go by, and my maker would love to meet you,"

"He would? And who's that?"

"You know,"

"St Clair,"

Alex nodded slowly, teeth sinking into her lower lip as she walked seductively towards him. "He's always happy to meet more of _his_ kind, I'll take you to him,"

"You can control the thirst, I can help you," Stefan promised as their bodies touched, he felt her pressing up against him, rubbing her face against his and he really wanted to help her but there was only two ways she was leaving the cemetery, with him or dead.

Dead for good this time...

"I don't want help, I want to take you to St Clair,"

"How does he know about me?"

"He doesn't, I told him I had a surprise for him,"

Stefan gripped Alex's arm. "Listen to me, you have to control it, come with me back to the house,"

Alex slammed her hand into Stefan's chest, throwing him backwards into a tomb stone making the tip crumble on top of him, she sped towards him stunned when he got up faster than she could anticipate and wrapped his fingers around her throat.

"Please," Alex pleaded when she saw his blood red eyes.

Fangs receding, Stefan's face softened but it was in the moment of weak judgment that Alex seized the opportunity to plunge a sharp instrument into his ribs; he stumbled back as she smiled wickedly and looked down at the thick fragment of a tree.

"I wonder what Elena's blood tastes like?"

Yanking it out, Stefan looked up to find she was gone and followed her echoing laugh into the darkness; he was going to have to kill her. He heard a persistent whisper and recognized Uri's voice at side of him, pulling his jacket over the wound; he followed the noise right to the tomb where Uri was set up, donuts and all.

"I didn't think you'd come,"

"I wasn't going to,"

"What made you change your mind?" Uri asked.

"I don't know, yet," Stefan took an uneven breath as his lung sealed back up and the flesh healed.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," Stefan said. "I've seen her,"

"I heard her," Uri added. "She's ahead, I say the best way to get her is to split up and bring her to the middle, she'll be trapped,"

"She's a vampire, pretty hard to trap,"

"Okay, you stay here and watch the donuts and I'll go," Uri stood up, pushing the stake into the back of his jeans.

"Wait,"

"What?"

"I'll go that way," Stefan nodded ahead.

Uri handed Stefan his other stake. "Okay, I'll go the way you came,"

Stefan headed in the direction he'd seen Alex hoping he'd run into her first, there was a chance Uri was more dangerous than he could imagine, especially to vampires because he was hunter, but he was still only human and for them death meant death.

He quickly searched through his pockets as his cell rang to cancel it when Alex came out of her hiding place, rushing towards him like a bull in the ring and slamming him to the ground.

Gunshots fired and Alex hissed and then rolled off and went towards Uri who came running with his piece in one hand and the stake in his other, Stefan rushed to his feet as Alex hurtled towards the vampire slayer.

She landed on him and they both fell to the ground, then things got very quiet as Stefan ran towards them both unmoving, then Uri rolled over still holding on to the stake that now buried in her chest.

Her eyes were big and wild as her face turned ashen grey, Uri leaned in. "Je déteste les aimants de vampire," Pushing the wooden stake all the way through, he stared into her eyes until they stilled and then stood up.

Stefan noticed his neck bleeding. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Uri breathed, pressing his hand against his neck briefly before picking up his gun and pulling his stake free. "It's a scratch. All in a good days work, eh?"

Stefan glanced around amongst the debris as he heard his phone ringing, he realized he must have dropped it when he and Alex struggled and began searching until he saw the little glowing screen.

"What?"

"You need to get over here,"

"What is it, is Bonnie okay?"

"She's fine, get home okay? Things are getting very interesting," Damon teased.

Stefan sighed, and turned back to Uri. "I've gotta go,"

"Heroes work is never done," Uri said as Stefan passed. "Bonnie your girlfriend, the one you were with earlier?"

"Uh, no, she's a friend, Bonnie I mean and she's not the one I was with earlier. Are you gonna..."

Uri caught Stefan glance at Alex's body. "Oh yeah, I'll be fine you go, I'll just have myself a nice little bonfire,"

"Alright,"

"Hey...Stefan, thanks,"

"I didn't do anything,"

"You came,"

Stefan nodded and left Uri standing over Alex's body, he really did hate vampire lovers he just failed to relay that message to poor Alex, in english. A smile spread across his face as he kneeled down by her head, staring into her shrivelled eyes with satisfaction, she deserved to die the way she did for trusting a vampire.

Silly Half-ways,

Uri went back to his little duffle bag of goodies and got his lighter fluid; walking back he fell mesmerised by her stillness, her death. "Darling I'm lost, adrift in the dark...I'm clutching your words..." He sung his favourite song as soaked her in the flammable fluid. "To my vampire heart once-more. So let in the light, turn me to dust." Uri dug out his lighter and threw it at the corpse. "If it don't end in Bloodshed dear. It's probably not love."

It was about time Uri bumped into the Salem Witch, and if couldn't get to her through Stefan he would have to by other means.

And gladly, he couldn't wait to have her in the palm of his hand, there to be crushed or flourished.

* * *

Stefan entered the board house to quiet bickering, which of course to his ears was as loud as being in the same room. If Stefan didn't know any better he'd say they were used to arguing, like they'd been doing it for years, his brow raised as he saw them in each other's face, was Damon really _bickering_? That was new.

"First I have that weird vision, and now this,"

"Okay, but you see the problem is, I don't care what you think Bonnie," Damon glared down at her.

"Let's see what Stefan has to say,"

"It's her life,"

"But it won't be if she goes through with it,"

Stefan walked into living room. "Guys, what's going on? He asked, hesitantly. "See what I have to say about what?"

Bonnie and Damon pulled away from their heated glaring session to face Stefan as he walked into the room.

"Say hello to Laila, brother," Damon said, moving aside to reveal the young teen sat behind the table Damon loved to serve himself drinks on. "Bonnie learned a neat little trick, see, no shoelaces,"

Stefan eyed the girl closely as she tried to wriggle out of her invisible restraints. "Uri's sister," Stefan sighed.

Laila stopped wriggling at the mention of his name. "You need to let me go, now,"

"Oh yeah, and why's that again?" Damon asked, eyes falling on Stefan.

"Because tonight is the night," Laila cried.

"The night for what?" Stefan asked.

"Tonight is the night I'm saved,"

* * *

End of Chapter

~ Noa


	8. The Loneliest Girl In The World

And just to thank the communities that have added my story to their list of good fic, I've subbed them all so I can enjoy reading great fic when I'm finished. Thank you for the reviews and pms, they are better than chocolate.

Wow, so I stayed up late to watch the live stream of Vampire Diaries and I was blown away, an amazing comeback. And plenty of Bamon inspiration, finally they show the potential of a banter filled relationship, especially at Mayor LW's service.

Chapter Summary: The trio are morally challenged by Laila's decision and Uri's agenda is revealed.

* * *

Chapter Eight – Loneliest Girl In The World

"You got in pretty late last night," Elena put her toothbrush under the faucet and then started brushing her teeth, though it hadn't gone unnoticed when Bonnie paused momentarily before forcing a smile.

Bonnie was worried that the guy she'd been dreaming about was Laila's brother, or at least she thought it was too coincidental not to be the same guy, she'd felt terrified in the first dream and safe in the other, and she hadn't given it much thought until now.

Why was she dreaming about Laila's brother? He was killing vampires, and protecting her and they knew each other, had she seen the future, were they destined to meet? Why had she seen so much blood when she touched Damon, had Uri hurt him? It was so much to process not to mention finding Laila safe but not so sound with plans to become a Night Crawler. As soon as the Salvatore brother's showed up to Mystic Falls everything turned to crap, their town had become a supernatural magnet and now she had to learn and learn fast if she wanted them gone.

"Everything okay?" Elena asked, brows drawing in when Bonnie didn't respond.

Bonnie sobered. "It was fine,"

"What was?" Elena spat out the paste, washing it away before turning to face her best friend. "It's me Bonnie,"

Bonnie leaned against the sink, shoulders slumped. "I don't know what I'm doing Elena, I thought I could help but..."

"What is it?"

"Spending time with Damon is messing with my head, I miss Grams and this whole thing is giving my nightmares,"

"Oh, Bon," Elena said softly, pulling Bonnie into a hug. "I'm here. Stefan told me about Laila,"

Bonnie pulled away. "She's not talking, I don't know what to do you know, I barely recognize her,"

Elena pushed Bonnie's curls behind her ear. "I know, but I trust Stefan. I know this is tough for you, spending time with them so soon after...but I'll be there every step, okay?"

"I thought Stefan said it was too dangerous for you,"

"I can look after myself, and besides, Bonnie you're my best friend. I wanna be there for you, and I wanna help Stefan, so let me be there okay?"

Bonnie smiled. "Okay," she agreed hesitantly. They'd agreed only days ago to protect each other with the truth but what was Bonnie supposed to tell her? That she was getting increasingly drawn to Damon, physically and emotionally, hell, Bonnie couldn't even say it aloud to herself.

He was the one messing with her head, and he was being his usual charming self, she couldn't figure out what she was seeing in him or what she thought she was seeing in him but she couldn't stop looking, she had to see whatever it was he was showing her, willingly or not.

"Everything is gonna be fine, it has to be," Elena said, hugging Bonnie again, briefly before leaving her in the bathroom with her own reflection.

"What's going on with you?" She asked, but her worn reflection didn't have an answer.

* * *

"How was Bonnie?" Stefan asked, coming up behind Damon in the living room as he poured himself a glass of blood.

"Bonnie? She was her usual charming self." Damon smirked at Stefan. "She hates me… it's kinda hot,"

Stefan's face remained neutral; he wasn't going to indulge Damon's playful mood. "Are the two of you ready?"

"Ready for a barbecue? I'd say she's got the fire down, everything else?" Damon shook his head. "Not a chance, when she's scared she forgets _what_ she is, she doesn't remember that she could end one of us," Damon clicked his fingers. "Like this,"

"You know what you have to do don't you? And, I know this will sound alien Damon but some encouragement, maybe a little sensitivity might help her along, after all we are the reason she lost Sheila,"

"Where have you been for the last century and a half?" Damon's eyes widened. "I don't do sensitive; I'm not the caring _type_,"

"You have, I've seen it, the way you are with Elena," Stefan's eyes fell to his feet. "You care about her, you can care if you let yourself,"

A mischievous smile worked its way on Damon's finely chiselled face. "Elena's the exception, plus she was always at an advantage for looking like you know who," He wriggled his eyebrows, he loved to see his brother squirm, it was like now he was in love with Elena he wanted to forget what made him go there with her in the first place. After all, he owed some thanks to Katherine for leading him to her doppelganger, Damon was thankful because Elena was a version of Katherine he'd never had the pleasure of seeing.

Bonnie was a different story though, their relationship had started after he tore her throat open overwhelmed with rage for Emily, granted he took it out on the wrong person but Emily was dead, it wasn't like he could make her _feel_ his wrath. Pretty soon after she'd seen his face they were asking her and Sheila to break twenty seven hungry vampires, pissed off vampires out of a tomb so he could get what he wanted.

Then Sheila died, it wasn't exactly looking hopeful for the two of them from that point, he couldn't see the best start to a blossoming...whatever they were.

"Elena's nothing like her," Stefan said, breaking into Damon's thoughts.

"I know,"

"So let's talk about the matter at hand," He urged, eyes searching out Damon's. "Bonnie?"

"What about me?" Bonnie asked, eyeing both brothers. "Where's Laila?"

VDVDDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDDVD

"You can't leave her in there," Bonnie cried, gritting her teeth when Damon's grip on her arm tightened as he dragged her away from the cell and back upstairs. "Stefan," She whispered, eyes pleading.

"We need to know, _something_, Bonnie. Usually, I wouldn't..." He glanced at his brother, crossing his arms over his chest. "Agree with Damon's methods but maybe some time down there will make her talk,"

"She's just a kid," The witch defended.

"Exactly," Damon said, mirroring Stefan's previous actions.

"Fear makes people talk," Stefan added, turning his palm up as his phone vibrated. "Excuse me," He said, passing the two to leave the room.

Damon smirked as the fiery little thing threw a glare his way. "Let me guess, I'm...heartless and scary but sexy...it's called being a vampire," He winked.

"I was going to say...I hope this works,"

Damon's smile faded ever so slightly, he was taken back and couldn't hide it because it had happened too quickly to recover from, Bonnie agreed with him? How was he supposed to feel about that? One emotion was clear, annoyance, Bonnie threw curve ball after curve ball and he was quickly becoming the fat kid who couldn't dodge the suckers.

Bonnie took a breath, the small dip in her neck sinking deeper. "Laila shouldn't be involved in this, she shouldn't have to know that monsters exist, that they're real and in her backyard,"

Now his smile was gone, a few weeks ago being called a monster would've put an arrogant and prideful smile on his face but now it was just making him _feel_...

Everything

First he exposed himself to Elena and now he was doing the same with Bonnie, the only difference was she hated him, she couldn't stand to be in the same room with him let alone working with him to help Stefan and it _bothered_ him.

He didn't want her to make things easy for him, didn't want her to like him or to forgive him for what he'd done because it made it easier to be the way he was, she gave him an excuse to be the heartless and scary vampire he wanted everyone to believe he was. Damon wanted to believe his own hype, yet the whole thing bothered him.

"Where were you?" Bonnie asked.

Damon snapped back to reality, smiling crookedly. "Sorry, I zone out when you talk,"

Bonnie narrowed her eyes on him, deciding to ignore the remark. "Where were you just then?" She repeated.

"In my happy place, you wouldn't like it there. It's a _b-lood_ bath," He leaned forward to whisper, icy blue eyes flashing wider.

Bonnie snarled as he brushed past her. "You know, I don't get it,"

"What's that?"

"How Stefan and you are _so_ different,"

Damon stiffened, he'd lost count of the amount of times that comparison was made, he could never please his father and ultimately failed at making Katherine care about him enough to find him and now Bonnie was comparing him to Stefan too.

The good Salvatore brother, the noble one with the brooding forehead and sensitivity, the one who wanted to drag humanity in Damon to the surface even if it killed_ him_ in the process, the _annoyingly_ good Salvatore brother.

"It's called _personality_, I have it, he _doesn't_," Damon watched Bonnie intently, she smiled but there was a smugness to it that she made no attempt to hide, and he couldn't tell if she was smiling with him or laughing at him.

"You know what you hate about Stefan? He's brave,"

"He's brave?"

"Yeah, he's brave enough to feel, put himself out there and you're too scared," Bonnie spun on her heel, this time expecting Damon right in front of her staring her down, she was getting used to his little habits.

"I'm not scared of anything," Damon ran his finger down her jaw line, half expecting to be shoved away but she made no attempt to move from his touch, and just when he thought he was getting used to her little habits.

"That's a lie,"

"Cause you know me so well," Damon mocked, with the playful glint back in his eyes.

"How'd you feel when you found out Katherine wasn't in the tomb?"

"How'd you feel when your Grams died?" Damon retorted, eyes cold and dark. It was an evil thing to say, there was no condoning it but the rush of painful memories that came along with Katherine's name made him unpredictable, even to him.

Bonnie stumbled backward a few steps, falling into Stefan's arms overwhelmed with loss at the mention of her Grams, she was reminded all over again that her Grams was dead and never coming back, no matter how hard she cried.

"Damon stop!" Stefan warned.

But he didn't need to growl or give Damon the evil eye because he was already feeling the cause of what he'd said, Bonnie's loss rippled through him like a tidal wave of emotions that knotted his stomach. He looked up to meet Stefan's judgemental gaze but Bonnie was gone and without giving it a second thought, he was out of the house and behind her.

"Bonnie,"

"Stay away from me,"

He wanted to force her to listen but the word 'sorry' was not in his vocabulary even when he felt it and that was few and very far between. Her pretty curls bounced on her shoulders as she stormed away from the house with Damon hot on her heels without a clue of how he was going to get her back inside.

"I was out of line,"

"Katherine's gone, by choice,"

"I know,"

"My grams...she's just gone,"

"I know," Damon repeated, emotion weighing down his words this time, he really did know because although Katherine had gone by choice it hurt no less than if she'd been dead.

Bonnie stopped in her tracks, realizing she'd not only hit a sore spot when bringing up Katherine but a place Damon rarely travelled to, his heart. It didn't beat any more but it weighed just as heavy as it did when he was alive, she felt it whenever they were near each other, her emotions mixing with his.

"You're an ass,"

"Agreed," Damon replied flippantly, relieved when Bonnie turned to face him.

"I was out of line too,"

Damon jolted back, he wanted to say thank you but he didn't, instead he flashed a grin. "Is this you calling a truce?"

"No,"

"I guess I should've seen that coming,"

"Why should I even come back?"

"Because...Stefan trusts you, needs you...and so do I." He felt uneasy with his admission as Bonnie looked up at him, so completely uncomfortable that he wanted to say something horrible to stop his cold flesh from heating. "Besides, if you don't, Laila stays down there, what do I care?"

Damon trekked back to the house and heard Bonnie behind him, he'd been smiling a lot lately, Bonnie made him smile, but he wasn't going to get used to it, he had a tendency to lose as soon as he got comfortable.

DVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVD

The boys followed as Bonnie made her way back down to the cellar, her fingers curled around the bar as she watched Laila rock back and forth where she sat, looking back at Damon she didn't expect more than an eyebrow lift but instead she got a nod.

Encouragement.

Hesitantly reaching out, Bonnie pulled back the lock and opened the door stepping inside and closing behind her.

"Laila?"

Bonnie paused as Laila stopped rocking.

Night Crawlers were in town, collecting Halfways and while she couldn't believe there were actually people who wanted to become vampires, what was more of a kick in the teeth was that some were in Mystic Falls, Laila was proof of that. It was sad really, and Bonnie wondered what had happened to the young, happy go lucky church goer she used to watch movies with.

"It's me, Bonnie,"

"Please, let me go," Laila cried, looking up into Bonnie's big green eyes. "I want this,"

Bonnie stepped closer, a step at a time until she was sitting beside the young teenager. "Why would you want this?"

"It's my life, that's why," Laila snapped.

"You have so much of it ahead of you, you're so young. Why would you want to this curse?"

Damon watched Bonnie through the bars and without a word he left Stefan in front of the door, he wasn't going to listen to Bonnie go on about what an abomination he was. She may have been the psychic but he could already see that whatever 'ship' they had would be nothing short of tumultuous.

"Laila, you have a lot of people worried about you, including Bonnie," Stefan added.

Tears fell down her cheeks, one after another. "I started having seizures," she whispered as though scared someone would overhear a top secret. "It started a year ago, it was just headaches at first then seizures. Doc said I had a tumour the size of a grape and he removed it,"

"Oh, God Laila,"

"A few months ago, just after my birthday, I got a headache and I felt like my head was going to explode, I passed out. When I woke up I was in the hospital, the front part of my brain damaged, the frontal lobe or whatever and he told me..." Laila licked a tear away as it slid passed her lips. "He told me that the tumour was back, and that it was aggressive. I'm gonna die, Bonnie,"

Bonnie's eyes filled and she instinctively reached out and grabbed Laila's hand. "Can't they take it out again?" She asked, urgency ringing in her voice.

"It's...malignant,"

Stefan's eyes fell away, sympathy overwhelming him as her choice became clear to him, she just wanted a longer life and she deserved one.

"Four months ago, I had five months to live,"

"No," Bonnie cried, biting down on her lip to stop it quivering. "There has to be...you can't just die,"

Laila's attempt to smile faltered as Bonnie squeezed onto her hand. "Do you see why I can't give you what you want? I can't leave my family behind, my mom would never survive that. I have to do this, I have to protect him so that he can do this for me,"

"Laila, you'd be different,"

"I'm already different, I'm not the same girl you knew, Bonnie. I'll do what it takes to stay alive, even if it means dying,"

Stefan stepped into the room, walking over to kneel in front of Laila. "Eternity is a very long time, do you understand what you'll become?"

Laila nodded. "I know everything,"

Bonnie was powerless to help once again, she couldn't save her grams and now she couldn't save Laila either. Bonnie rushed out the door and up the stairs, catching her breath as she leaned against the wall tears free falling.

"Well that sucks," Damon said.

Bonnie looked up. "You heard that?"

"I hear everything," Damon stepped forward and wiped the tears from her face with the pad of his thumb, pausing as he realized what he was doing.

Bonnie frowned, sniffling as he dropped his hand. Contrary to what he may of thought, she needed to be touched, to feel, to be comforted and somehow he was in tune with that.

Stefan came up behind them. "She's completely lucid, Laila knows what she wants. We should let her go, let her lead us to St Clair, we need to make him priority now,"

"Yeah, cause that worked out so well with Alex?" Damon asked. "I say we give her what she wants, and turn her,"

"Wait," Bonnie said through clenched teeth. "We can't just let her go off and be a vampire," She looked at Stefan, she'd expected a fight, some kind of moral argument between he and Damon but there was nothing. "Can't you give her some blood and heal it without turning her?" Her eyes narrowed on Damon then.

"Yes," Stefan began.

"But," Damon interrupted, noting Bonnie's eyes darken toward him. "It'd be like a quick fix, a temporary cure, we'd only be prolonging the inevitable,"

"It's malignant. Means it'd just grow back, a _new_ tumour," Stefan added.

"What would you do?" Damon asked Bonnie. "If you could save your Grams, wouldn't you do whatever it took?"

"I don't kn…" A twinge of guilt twisted Bonnie's gut as she thought about how she hadn't thought twice about trying to bring her grams back.

Damon placed his hands on her shoulders. "It's her life, Bonnie, _her_ choice."

"I can fix this, I can do a spell..."

"What spell?" He asked as let his hands fall away. "You don't know any spells yet, and when you do it'll take a while to perfect,"

"It's not right," Bonnie said, taking a shaky breath.

"Eternity's a long time to be alive," Stefan said, resolve wavering as he looked at Damon.

"C'mon Stefan, the girl's dying, who are we to involve ourselves in her choice not to? We could heal her now but she can't live off blood as a human, and that's exactly what she'd be doing every time it came back, if it were Elena would you let her live like that?"

Bonnie and Stefan froze simultaneously at that, like they realized at the same time how easy a choice was to make when you weren't attached to the one in question, if they were dealing with their own flesh and blood, someone they loved the argument would be very different. Damon said it like it was whether he was disliked for it or not.

"Look it doesn't have to suck that she's dying, if she dies the right way, with vampire blood in her system. Huh, then you have your little friend back, just with fangs," He offered a wide grin as though he'd just said something to be happy about.

"I...I'm not okay with this," Bonnie said, pushing passed Damon as she rushed out of the door. "I need some air,"

"She'll be back," Damon boasted.

"You're sure about that? Damon, every time I see something in you, something good you do your best to taint it. The difference is Bonnie doesn't have to care about either of us, she's here for Elena, remember that."

"I can do this alone, I can get St Clair. I don't need her, "_I don't._

"Oh yeah, and how do you suppose we get to St Clair? You get to him if you become a NightCrawler," Stefan charged towards him and slammed his hand against his brother's chest. "You _need_ to _feel_,"

Damon's jaw clenched as Stefan left the room. Needing Bonnie's help wasn't the problem, the problem was him needing Bonnie and he was already fighting against that, to willingly let her in? There'd be no going back.

* * *

Uri had waited by Alex's disintegrated remains waiting for Laila, after all the pleading she'd done and tests she'd gone through he was finally offering to turn her and she didn't show, it wasn't like her, if anything she'd shown a passion he'd never seen before, a passion for life rather than death.

Laila wasn't like the others he'd met, if she had been he wouldn't have thought twice about killing her but not only was her intentions selfless but they were actually plausible. Laila wasn't one of those many who'd fell in love with what they thought was Eternity in a bed of roses and youth.

Eternity, the word was abused, no-one truly understood the meaning of it or it never would've appealed to them, it sounded exciting, the prospect of having all the time in the world to do whatever you wanted but after a hundred years, they'd soon realized why people were supposed to die, why _death_ was a necessary part of life.

No one could really live forever unless there was something they craved but could not touch, and the only thing he thirsted for he was finally going to be quenched.

Laila was different because she wanted to live, not die whereas they wanted to die so that they could live; why that made sense to them Uri would never know.

All he did know was that it was something he found himself wanting to do for Laila. It was rare, in fact unheard of that Uri ever spared anyone let alone tried to help them, her situation at first meant nothing to him but he did something he'd hadn't done for over a century, he spent time with her and once you know someone something comes with it, a feeling, an obligation.

Now sitting at the bar downing a shot of Jack, he considered the possibility of her changing her mind, and it's not something Uri would allow usually, those who wanted such a curse deserved it and once he agreed there was no undoing but Laila, she was different, she was _him_ centuries ago, without a choice.

"And Elena, well I don't see as much of her because she's always somewhere with Stefan. Not that I'm jealous or anything, cause I have Matt now," Caroline explained, smile bright and welcoming.

Uri feigned interest in Barbie's incoherent babble, nodding enthusiastically before downing another shot. "Elena's ex, blue eyed Ken doll over there,"

Caroline smiled, nodding excitedly. "Mm hmm, Matt," she corrected.

"Why do you keep correcting me, I think Barbie and Ken suit the two of you,"

Caroline blinked a few times, smile still there but fading ever so slightly. "Is that British humour?"

"No, I'm just wanker," He smiled.

"A what?"

Uri sighed as she giggled. "British humour…Hey," He moved forward, locking her eyes on his. "You should go check on your boyfriend I think he's missing you,"

"I should go check on Matt, be right back," Caroline smiled, bouncing her shoulders up as she lid off the stool.

Uri glanced down at his phone on the bar, he'd given Laila a chance and now he was moving on to bigger issues. Mainly, the gorgeous green eyed brown girl who'd walked into the grill with purpose in her steps as she saw Barbie and Ken and walked over to join them.

He dropped a note on the bar and picked up his coat, slipping his arms into the sleeves when a broad figure came behind him.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't rip your head off,"

"Mm, because unlike me you'd make a terrible mess," Uri smirked, turning to face St. Clair.

"I like the blood and gore," The tall black man smiled, eyes shining eerily as they met Uri's obsidian eyes, both so unnatural and yet they didn't stand out, at least where it mattered. As far as St. Clair was concerned, no one there knew of him.

"So what happened to Alex, she said she had something for me,"

"I killed her," Uri said, flatly.

St. Clair's pupils shrunk as though the light had just hit them but it was a reaction to being royally pissed off. "You forget your place, Uri. I don't recall permitting you to kill the fresh one,"

Uri took a breath trying to keep his temper at bay though he couldn't help the tight clench of his fists as he imagined ripping the old vampires head clean off his shoulders, he hated St. Clair with a passion. "She was a liability to you so I ended her, I can't have fresh ones threatening to expose us,"

"I see,"

"Alex was running around like a vampire without a leash,"

St. Clair studied Uri momentarily and then nodded in understanding. "You know I trust you to do what you do best, so let's wrap it up quickly and move on to the next one,"

Uri nodded. "Laila's the last to transition, after her that we go,"

"Right, tonight I'm going to have myself a feast, I love new recruits who fail to impress,"

It took all Uri had in him not to snarl in disgust, and it had nothing to do with him being squeamish about blood, he lived on it after all, it was the way St. Clair said it, in fact it was a losing game because no matter what St. Clair did Uri was going to despise him regardless. "Enjoy," Uri forced a smile. "I'm going to need another to travel with,"

"Take Laila with you, she's taken quite a shine to you,"

Uri stiffened, and for a moment he thought he might actually lose what little control he had left and stake the bastard for even suggesting her, he'd never hurt Laila. "She's in transition still, so she doesn't exactly have all her marbles yet,"

St. Clair eyed the meat he came with as Uri did and called out a tall and slender man, brown eyes and dark hair, another fresh one whom St. Clair had no qualms giving up for the night, though he had no sex preference when it came to food. "Take Gregory,"

Gregory stepped away from the two girls he and St. Clair had come with to join Uri's side, the perfect little well trained soldier that Uri was going to kill to keep up his pretence of the vampire hunter, and because he enjoyed it. Uri blinked an eye and St. Clair had breezed out of the place unnoticed leaving him with a new toy to play with.

Bonnie hugged Matt and then Caroline before heading out the door, he'd overheard her saying something about going back to school being stressful but being a Witch and all, Uri was guessing it was never as simple as that.

"Greg, go and have yourself a feast," Uri said, smile wide and eyes sinister.

"What? We're only allowed to feed on the halfways, you said, St. Clair said,"

"I know what I said, don't repeat me to me idiot." Uri rolled his eyes. "I'm giving you a night off, go find a pretty girl to eat and don't worry yourself about St. Clair, I'm giving you a pass,"

Greg was hesitant but felt the burn, the need to feed on fresh blood, to pierce flesh that had never been touched and drain the innocence that seeped from it, he felt the sharpness coming through his gums and nodded. "Thank you, Uri,"

"Don't mention it, everyone deserves a treat, eh," Uri whispered, winking as he gestured for Greg to get going. "I'll see you back here, an hour, no longer,"

"Have fun, I know I will,"

Uri watched as the vampire left, looking over his shoulder to peep the time, it wouldn't take Greg long to find someone he wanted to feed on, fresh vampires were far from particular about food, they just couldn't wait to be sloppy and pathetic remakes of St. Clair.

"Where'd everyone go?"

Uri whipped his head around to see Ava standing behind him. "Where'd you come from?"

"Bathroom break," She said, brows raised as though he'd asked a dumb question. Ava was a petite Spanish girl with short black waves, peachy lips and dark eyes, and she was a fierce vampire.

"Guess you're with me tonight,"

* * *

Stefan had left the cell door unlocked but now they were giving Laila permission to do what she wanted the reality of it had scared her, she was actually going to become a vampire so that she wouldn't die, ever.

Eventually she ended up walking the halls of the first floor and found the two guys arguing about how her choice would affect her in the long run, while one thought it was easy to shut everything off the other didn't think that mattered, because sooner or later she wouldn't want to shut it off, she want to remember how it felt to be herself and feel.

They fought like brothers, they looked like brothers, sort of but they hadn't noticed her enter the room, or so she thought.

"Hello, Laila,"

Laila stopped in her tracks as the dark haired one spoke up, finally looking away from his brother to acknowledge she was there.

"Just one of the perks," Damon boasted.

"He's here for three things," She choked out. "You know the story of the first?"

Stefan nodded. "The first halfways,"

"His mother wanted immortality, a vampire offered it but she was too inpatient."

Laila now had both the boys full attention, Stefan sensed that her loyalty ran deep for the rogue Night Crawler, he could tell by the way her voice thickened with emotion as she spoke of him.

"What happened?" Stefan coaxed.

"She got turned, by another and got her family killed as punishment. He killed everyone but her eldest son and daughter; they were elsewhere at the time. When they came back no one was there, they thought they'd been abandoned,"

"When'd they find out otherwise?"

"The vampire started to pursue the sister and she fell for him, and she didn't know until after he turned her that he was the one that killed her family in cold blood, after that she couldn't face her brother, fearful she'd hurt him and disappeared,"

"What happened to her brother?" Damon asked.

"He's been looking for her ever since,"

"He turned," Stefan concluded. "He had to so he could live to see her again,"

"What are the three things?" Damon asked, swallowing.

"The second thing is Bonnie," Laila confessed.

Uri rolled his neck around his shoulders before cracking his knuckles, it was game on, he'd given Greg more than enough time to find a bird and woo her into an alley or something, all he had to do now was have fun finding the twat before he killed him. After that, he'd probably give Stefan a call for help getting rid of the body.

"Ava, follow behind me but not too close,"

"Okay,"

"Ready or not," Uri left the grill and took a deep breath, smelling the air for blood but the pureness hadn't pierced the air yet, or maybe Greg was just rubbish at picking birds up, didn't matter, Uri had another excuse in place for Greg's untimely death.

* * *

It killed Bonnie to see someone so young, like her to have no hope or life in their eyes, Laila was like an empty shell compared to the one Bonnie knew years ago, she wondered why her brother Uri hadn't come sooner to help her somehow.

Laila never spoke about her brother much, mainly because they agreed not to when he'd chosen to move with their dad after he left Claudia and though Bonnie didn't remember Uri she always felt his absence, she always felt Laila's loneliness, it filled the whole house. And now she was dying, without a first kiss or first heat break, without a prom and without a life lived to the fullest.

Bonnie couldn't bear the thought of Laila being a vampire any more than she could accept the thought of her dying and never coming back, like grams.

Bonnie dialled Elena's number. "Elena?"

"Bonnie where are you? When I got to Stefan's he said you'd left a while ago. I thought I'd find you when I got home, it's getting dark let me come get you,"

"It's okay, I'm on my way to you now. I just, I needed to be alone you know?"

"I know, Stefan told me about Laila, it's horrible,"

"I just feel so useless, here I am with these gifts, these powers and I don't know how to use them to help the ones I care about,"

"Bonnie, let me come and get you, we can talk about this,"

"Don't worry, Elena, I'm not far."

"Stay on the phone okay? Ugh, I can't believe Damon didn't make sure you were home safely,"

"To be fair, I didn't really give him a chance,"

"To be fair?"

"I can't hear y...Elena?" Bonnie looked at her phone, cringing when she saw the battery signal empty. "Elena, I'll be right there can you hear me? My phone is dying, Elena?"

Beep.

"Great," Bonnie sighed, the day couldn't get any worse it wasn't possible.

"You okay?"

Bonnie jumped out of skin, looking up at a tall European man, Italian, Portuguese maybe with brown eyes and dark hair. "Mm-hmm," without stopping, Bonnie continued on her path when she felt a presence behind her but when she turned around there was no one there.

Picking up the pace, Bonnie held the power button down praying it would go on even for a second when she felt arms come around her in a tight embrace, like a snake trying to squeeze all the air out of her. She knew it was the guy she'd bumped into, she could smell him.

Wriggling and kicking, Bonnie finally got away and started running with her heart beating out of her chest as she heard a taunting laugh echo, this was the last time Bonnie was going to make her way home alone, she should've known better.

Bonnie hid behind a truck, mouth turning white when she saw those teeth protruding from his gums soon to be stained with blood, her blood if she didn't get a grip.

He ran out of sight, gone in a flash and then she was being dragged away into a dark alley, screaming behind his hand, only it wasn't him who had her.

"Shush,"

Bonnie spun around as he let go to see a young man with shoulder length black hair, he was handsome, he was the guy in her dreams. "You,"

Uri gripped her arm, taking a stance in front of her. "Me? Have we met?"

"Yes, no, kind of,"

"Shush," Uri whispered as Gregory stood at the beginning of the alley, a smile spreading across his face with the fresh vanilla scent of Bonnie travelling through the air and towards him. He darted into the darkness and right into Uri's fist, before Bonnie even knew what was happening they were tumbling in the dark, their fists connecting with the others face sounding like thunder.

The pair fell into the small ray of light that the moon lent to the dark corner, and as their faces were revealed to each other Uri chuckled, breathlessness cutting into his laughter. "Bonjour,"

Gregory's face was horror stricken, and a second later it was still and shrivelled as Uri buried his stake into the handsome vampire's heart.

Uri stepped back allowing the lifeless body to fall to the ground and set alight, but before he had a chance to arrogantly prod a thanks out of the beautiful Witch he was being pinned against the wall. "You're welcome,"

"You're dead, I felt it when you touched me,"

"Bollocks. I never thought of that,"

"Why, why'd you save me? And why am I dreaming about you?"

"To the first question, I like killing vampires and to the second I have no bloody idea, why don't you tell me?" Uri pushed his head away from the wall. "Do you mind?"

"Yeah, I do,"

"I would never hurt you,"

"Whys that?"

"Because …we were meant to meet, and I can't tell you why yet,"

"You can't, why?

"Because I don't trust you and you don't trust me, and without the sodding thing the truth won't mean a thing,"

Bonnie took a deep breath and released Uri's from the wall. "Does Laila know you're a vampire?"

"Yes," Uri whispered, taking slow tentative steps towards her. "And I won't let her die,"

"…why do I feel like I'm gonna need you?"

"I honestly don't know, all I know is that I already need you," He moved in, closing the gap between them allowing her to feel his warmth.

"Bonnie!" Damon called, rushing into the alley as he smelt burnt flesh.

Bonnie spun around and without a second thought, threw her arms around Damon. "Oh God," Her eyes wandered but Uri was already gone.

"You're okay," Damon assured, rubbing his hand at the back of head. He didn't need to hear the rest of Laila's story, as soon as he heard Bonnie's name he knew the routes she took home, to Elena's and her grams.

"You came for me,"

Damon's smile faded a little as he pulled away. "Laila talked, and I knew..."

"That I needed you,"

Bonnie was relieved when he pulled her into a tighter embrace, it was fair to say that neither of them knew what they were to each other or what they were becoming to each other but they had no choice but to give in, it was like a chemical reaction, it was science and they couldn't deny it or each other anymore. Hate wasn't all that lingered between them.

Bonnie felt it, their relationship was going to be a mess but it was too late because she was already growing attached to their dysfunctional 'ship'

"You okay?"

"I am now," Bonnie buried her head in his chest.

* * *

Stefan had waited for Elena to call him letting him know that Damon had dropped Bonnie home safely and that the vampire who'd messed with her was taken care of before heading out, once again following a hunch. Laila had told them that the real battle was going to be over a certain Witch in Mystic Falls and they all knew who she was talking about.

_Everyone had an agenda and Bonnie was it._

He kept going over what Laila had said, piecing as much as he could together and while some of it didn't make sense, a lot of it did, especially if his instincts were right. Walking up the path to the house, Stefan knocked the door and waited, narrowing his hearing so that he could hear someone coming to the door.

"_What 's the first and last?" Stefan has asked Laila._

"_Love and revenge…"_

"_The vampire that killed his family,"_

"_St Clair,"_

"_He's here for his sister Lily; she's in Mystic Falls. The trail for her went cold back in 1864 but the whole town was very much aware of vampires when he showed up, and he couldn't get to her without exposing himself. Now he's back for her. So you see, he's not a Rebel because he was never a Night Crawler,"_

Claudia opened the door, a frown crowding her forehead. "Stefan,"

"Hi, Claudia, uh, is Uri here?"

Claudia nodded. "He just got here, come in."

If that picture was what he thought it was and as old as he thought it was, then the ones in the picture were definitely brother and sister, but that would mean it wasn't Uri and Laila considering she didn't exist yet, it was Uri and Lily.

Stefan stepped inside with a stake safely hidden behind his back, offering Claudia a friendly smile as he closed the door behind him.

~Fin~ Hope You Enjoyed!


	9. I See You

Thanks for all the amazing reviews, once again. You readers are my muse right now, so thanks a lot for sticking with this story and me.

Vampire Diaries tomorrow, I hope to hell that Matt doesn't die. :( - Are you excited?

Noa x

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* * *

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**Chapter Nine – I See _You_**

Ava jumped up into the top bedroom of Claudia's house, an art studio of some sort and rushed to the door to press her ear against it, listening to Uri as he entered the house and reassured Claudia that Laila was okay.

She stepped away as he came up the stairs, and waited for him to enter the room. "Hey,"

Uri paused at the door and looked over his shoulder to make sure Claudia wasn't behind him, then he closed it. "Ava,"

Uri pulled off his grey, caked-in-blood t-shirt, revealing his pale but taut stomach to Ava as she waited for him to explain what she'd just seen, but Uri had no explanation, at least not one that was any of her business. He watched her for a moment, eye brows raising as she placed her hands on her hips, challenging him.

"Uri, tell me what I saw back there?"

"You saw me kill Greg for attacking a human,"

"I was well hidden, like you wanted, but I heard your conversation with the girl. You know her,"

"Eavesdropping, Ava," Uri sighed, pulling a clean black T shirt over his head. He pointed his finger at her. "If you were anyone else,"

"I know," Ava breathed, hands falling from her waist. She had known Uri for longer than either of them cared to admit, not because they didn't like each other but because they reminded each other of the brutal past they were both a part of. One couldn't look at the other without remembering.

Uri had eventually learned to shut everyone out and let go of all attachments to the world, except one, Lily.

"What are you up to?"

"You know,"

He picked up the sepia toned picture of him and Lily back in England, 1682. They were ignorant kids coming into their adult years, caught by a friend who'd found a camera they all thought was broken until it flashed, freezing a moment between the siblings that Uri would cherish forever. That friend was Ava, she'd been with them from the beginning of time, and would be there until the end. Little did they know the end was only days away, and Uri would never see Lily again.

"Uri, we searched in secret for over a hundred years. This girl has powers, we could use her, maybe St Clair could…"

Uri's head snapped towards her, his black hair whipping behind him as he rushed her into the wall with his calloused fingers wrapped tightly around her delicate neck. His fangs descended, and the blood rushed to his eyes as he growled at her.

"Uri," Ava choked out.

"You know better than suggest what St. Clair could do. There is history between us, Ava. But please, don't for a minute allow yourself to relax around me, I will squeeze your heart until it bursts if you overstep. St Clair is not to go near Bonnie, if he learns a Witch is here in Mystic Falls you know what will happen,"

Ava pushed her thumbs into his eyes, hissing with anger as he stumbled back giving her enough time to catch her breath. "Why must we always fight?"

"Because you provoke it," He ran back towards her, slamming her on the floor and pinning her beneath him as she wriggled away from the blood running from the corner of his eye, to drip on her face. "Isn't this what you want, Ava?"

She stilled, eyes settling on his opaque stare as he leaned closer tempting her, rushing her heart into the same old race she'd never win for his in return.

"Isn't this why you followed me to Mystic Falls? Because you want so desperately for me to love you back?"

Ava's eyes widened but she said nothing.

Uri's eyes wandered down her soft golden skin, a smirk curling his lips upwards as they fell upon her breasts. "You _are_ beautiful," He brushed his lips against her soft pout slowly, softly, smiling as her eyes fell shut waiting for a kiss and then he jumped to his feet. "Tell St Clair about Bonnie and I will kill you," Uri warned, tying his hair into a band.

Ava joined him standing, the heat his touch imprinted on her skin moments ago cooling back to dead flesh. "What's so special about this Witch?"

"You know better than to ask me that, I trust no one."

"Have you found Lily, is that why we're here?"

"I haven't found Lily, that's something I would tell you," He looked her in the eyes as the lie slipped from his tongue, voice steady and cool. Uri had long time mastered the art of deception.

"I could help, you know…"

"Shut up a minute," Uri pushed his finger against Ava's lips, unable to resist physical contact with her just because he knew what it did to her skin, a mere touch would ignite her. "I have a visitor, a friend of sorts,"

"A friend?"

"Stay here," Uri pulled the door open and ran down the stairs just as Claudia called up. "Stefan, what brings you here at this time?"

"There's something I needed to run by you," Stefan smiled at Claudia. "It's private,"

Uri walked passed Stefan and pulled the door open, frowning as Stefan moved around him so that he was behind. He stepped out on to the porch, giving his back to Stefan. "So, what did you have to tell me?"

Stefan's grip tightened around the stake, he'd felt a connection with Uri when they first met but now he knew the history he understood why, for that, he wouldn't do as he suspected Uri thought and attack him from behind. "I know, why you're here,"

* * *

Bonnie shivered against Damon, fingers tightly grasping his leather jacket as she curled into his chest on the sofa, she hadn't moved more than an inch away from him since he'd brought her back to Elena's, her mind and body was in overdrive, fear, anger and hate clashing against empathy, passion and love. Since losing Grams the magic had been off kilter, mostly because her mind had been too.

She didn't let go of Damon through fear that if she let the moment go she'd go back to hating him and she didn't want to feel that way anymore.

"Bonnie," Damon said softly, cutting into her thoughts. "Bonnie, you're safe,"

She looked up at him as he stared down, their eyes locked and the glow the fireplace lent to his already shining eyes asked her to believe him, so she did. Slowly, she allowed him to pull away, his hand brushing against her gently before he stood up.

"You need to rest,"

"I don't know what's happening," Bonnie muttered as he stepped over her feet to leave.

Damon knew what she was talking about without her having to tell him, it was there between them both, lingering, pulling them towards each other like a magnet. He frowned. "No, neither do I,"

Elena walked in, eyes studying Damon for a minute before she passed to place a hot cup of chocolate in Bonnie's cold shaky hands, she pulled the blanket from the top of the sofa and flung it around Bonnie's shoulders. "I'll be right back,"

Without a word, Damon left the room and headed out of the door when Elena stepped out behind him. "Damon!"

He turned around slowly, eyes falling on the petite beauty that was Stefan's girlfriend but looked like the love of his life. "What happened tonight was my fault,"

"What?"

"That's what you're gonna say isn't it? Bad Damon, _evil_ Damon," He smirked, though beneath the cockiness was him in all his miserable glory.

"No, actually…" Elena frowned. "I was gonna say thanks for bringing my best friend home, in one piece,"

Damon walked back up the porch steps. ""Yeah, well, it was my fault…" He muttered.

"But she's okay," Elena looked up at him. "Thank you, Damon,"

Damon saw her genuinity, heard it in her voice. "_You're_ welcome," He smiled faintly in response to Elena's and watched her go back inside and close the door before he left.

VDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVDVD

Elena joined Bonnie on the sofa and put her arm around her shoulder. "You okay?"

Bonnie nodded and rested her head against Elena. "I froze up, I forgot everything Grams told me, everything she showed me," Her vision blurred as the tears surfaced. "I wanted to make Grams proud, if she were here…what would she think?"

"I think she'd be proud of you Bonnie, for doing something that terrifies you so that the ones you care about are safe, that's what was most important to her and it's what's important to you,"

Bonnie lifted her head to face Elena. "What if I follow my instincts and they're wrong, and someone gets hurt?"

"I believe in you Bonnie," Elena wiped the stray tear from Bonnie's cheek and leaned back into the chair as her best friend fell back into her shoulder. "Just believe in yourself,"

Bonnie closed her eyes, allowing the light musky scent of Elena's neck to calm her. They'd been best friends since they could talk, they all had and Bonnie just wanted to protect that, she wanted to protect the only people she had left.

But she wasn't sure if her gut was telling her to trust Uri, she just knew that there was more to him and more to them, she felt it when they touched, it was as though they knew each other, maybe in another life. Bonnie fought away her doubts, fears and what would come tomorrow and focused on the words of her Grams.

_"You listen to your heart and you follow your gut, they won't steer you wrong,"_

What did Grams mean? Listen to what her heart told her about Damon and trust what her gut told her about Uri? She wanted to but Damon needed to show her _something_, anything, other than the vampire, something other than the monster inside the man.

Her breathing slowed and her eyes fell closed for the night.

* * *

"Yeah, you know why I'm here. I'm looking for my sister," Uri turned around, crossing his arms over his chest. "I told you that,"

"You told me Laila was your sister,"

"Actually," Uri pointed. "You told me the missing teen was my sister, I just agreed,"

"The Vervain? Alex?"

"I put a hint of them in my clothes, after a while it doesn't make me feel so nauseated. And Alex, well she had it coming don't you think? After all, she did go after your misses,"

"That whole conversation was a lie, you compelled Claudia…"

"I don't lie, I just don't admit the truth," Uri grinned. "Look, I'm not really a hunter. I've been far too focused on one particular target,"

"St. Clair," Stefan nodded.

"I wasn't lying when I said vampires had my sister,"

"Laila told me,"

Uri's face stilled, the smile fading from his fine features. "Laila, she's with you?"

"Not by choice," Stefan admitted, instincts telling him that Uri's feelings for Laila were genuine, whether she became the substitute sister for Lily or was just someone he felt sorry for, he cared.

"Then you should know, I never had to compel Claudia,"

"The deaths?"

"If you want the truth, I feed on humans, newsflash, Vampires kill. But you and I are different, you're a vegetarian, happens, not often but it happens." Ur sighed. "I feed on the ones who want to be fed on, those bodies weren't my doing, they were St. bloody Clairs little minions,"

"What are you are you planning for Bonnie?"

"Wow. Laila squealed like a pig," Uri shook his head. "My plans for Bonnie are, well, kind of between us but don't take it personally,"

Stefan smiled, taking a step closer to Uri. "You see, anything that involves people I care about is personal to me,"

"I just need her blood is all," Uri winked. "I'll be out of your hair before you know it,"

"I can't let you hurt her, Uri,"

"Let me? Stef, I don't ask for permission. How about this…seen as you come here to kill me an' all, we can just fight it out, you win, I leave Bonnie alone. I win, you stay out of my way,"

"I can't do that, and you not going anywhere near Bonnie. Do-you-understand?"

"No, not really but I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to kill everyone that I come into contact with until I get Bonnie."

"You know I'll have to stop you,"

"I know you'll have to try," Uri uncurled his hand, revealing a little bottle and popped it open before lurching forward to throw the liquid in Stefan's face. As Stefan stumbled back, face sizzling with Vervain eroding the flesh ferociously, Uri grabbed him by his scruff and spun, throwing Stefan off the porch on to the windshield of a car.

He rushed forward and lifted Stefan off of the car as the alarm sounded, falling backward as the vampires rock hard fist collided with his jaw and then one to the stomach forcing him to barrel over. They rolled into the street in the path of an oncoming car, and held each other by the scruff to move from harm's way onto the other side of the street.

"You know, Laila doesn't know the whole story," Uri panted, pushing Stefan away as they found their footing.

Stefan, also breathless looked over Uri's shoulder to see where the stake had fallen. Once he noted it, he ran for Uri, lifting him up and hauling him hard against the concrete paving before speeding over to the porch to get the stake.

When Stefan turned around Uri was nowhere to be seen. "It doesn't have to be this way, I could help you get Lily back,"

"There's just one problem," Uri's voice echoed in the night. "I don't trust anyone, kind of makes his hard to make friends let alone little helpers,"

Stefan looked up and down the empty streets, trying to pinpoint Uri's exact location but the distance of his voice changed meaning he was on the move. "Uri, don't do this," He walked down the steps, head snapping to the right as he saw a shadow, without a thought he raced to it and found Uri waiting?

Stefan slammed him down and brought the stake above his head, before plunging it into Uri with full force. The squelch of blood splattered up into Stefan's face as he pulled it back out. He watched as Uri writhed in pain, blood bubbling out of his mouth as he choked on it, with what little strength he had left, Uri lifted his head and looked down at the wound.

He hadn't turned grey, and his skin hadn't wrinkled, he was still alive because something had stopped Stefan from plunging him in the heart. Uri cast his eyes down at the gaping wound in his stomach before passing out.

Stefan waited for Uri's eyes to close and looked around before lifting Uri over his shoulder into a fireman carry and speeding off with him, he needed to get him to the house before he healed. Although the neighbours did their busy body part when noise ensued, the two vampires moved to fast for their eye to catch.

Ava watched from the window filled with awe as she saw the guy called Stefan kill Uri, without a second thought she sped out of the house, giving Claudia the frights as she caught the mere shadow and slam of her door.

* * *

Bonnie lay wide awake beside Elena, staring up at the ceiling mindlessly when Damon came into her head, his blue eyes were inescapable once you were captured by them, his pink lips were enchanting and everything else, well, Bonnie couldn't sleep.

She looked over at Elena and while a part of her wanted to know what it felt like to be with a vampire, another part of her didn't. Bonnie was a teenager, she was used to being conflicted, she was used to being hung up on boys but this was Damon, he was no boy…

Bonnie clenched her thighs together as thoughts of him climbing into bed with her _naked_ invaded her thoughts, she sat up like a sharp spring and looked at Elena, flushed, as though her best friend would know what she was thinking of, even in her sleep.

Bonnie took a deep breath and fell back against the pillow. "One, two, Freddy's coming for you. Three four, better lock your door," She mumbled to herself.

Luckily for Bonnie, she didn't scare easy when it came to fiction, her real life however was another story, while Elena hid behind her shoulder, she was usually clued to the TV because she couldn't pull herself away from it. She knew that thinking about a horror just before bed would give her nightmares but in that moment she wanted that more than a wild sex dream about a vampire.

* * *

Damon lay wide awake in bed, biting his lip, blowing raspberries, turning on his back and then back on his front, he even hummed 'My girl wants to party all the time' but sleep wouldn't take him, frustrating was quickly turning into anger.

Bonnie hadn't crept into his thoughts because she'd been there since he'd dropped her back at Elena's, a freakin' witch, he couldn't sleep because of a freaking, judgemental, mightier than thou, tiny, cute, fragile little witch. What the hell? He thought about kissing her, and then he thought about her kissing him back and before he could say horny his blanket had risen to thoughts of how soft her naked body felt beneath his.

"Un-believable," Damon growled, climbing out of his bed for a very cold shower. He heard Stefan enter and call his name as he stripped down in front of the stall. "Son of a _b-itch_,"

"Damon, come quic…" Stefan turned his head away as he saw an overload of pale skin.

The older Salvatore rolled his eyes and pulled his shorts back up. "What? I've had a ridiculously active day, and I'd like to unwind is that too much to ask?"

"I have Laila's maker, Uri,"

Damon's face fell. "Well let's go," He said in all seriousness, ready to tear lumps out of the guy who made Bonnie his agenda.

"I wounded him pretty bad, but he's healing pretty quickly," Stefan breathed as they hurried down the stairs.

"We need to change that, this guy won't even remember Bonnie's name when I'm finished with him,"

Stefan paused on the step for a second but he daren't look at Damon and cause him to sober up and remember that he was supposed to be fooling everyone into thinking he was a horrible monster.

Blood soaked the rug where Stefan had placed Uri down but he was no longer laying in it, Stefan looked around the room and then behind him and caught the smallest movement of the door. He ran towards it and rushed out but there was no trace, only a smudged bloody hand-print on the door handle, he closed his eyes as Damon came behind him.

"You are off your game, little brother,"

"He was waiting for me," Stefan mused. "When I came at him, he was waiting for me, like he wanted me to stake him but knew I wouldn't kill him…"

Stefan turned around and for the first time, regretted being that vampire, the one who held on to his feelings and attachments to the world and people in it, he didn't want to kill Uri if he could help it but now that he was healed and free, Stefan realized he hadn't really helped anyone but Uri.

"He wanted to be brought to…"

"Laila," Damon sped down to the cell and was back in the blink of an eye. "Gone,"

"I didn't think, I should've…"

"Killed him? Yeah," Damon's lip curled into a snarl. "Bonnie!"

Stefan turned to face the empty space Damon stood in moments before and several seconds later he was coming back down the stairs fully dressed and heading out of the door. "Let's go,"

"What?"

"If you stuck me with buffy's toy, I'd be pissed. Do you know what I do when I'm pissed off?"

Stefan rushed out behind Damon kicking himself mentally for being sloppy, Uri was out cold and he thought he was safe but all it took was the 60 seconds he spent upstairs for Uri to get away. If Damon was right then Uri would be heading straight to Bonnie and Elena, Stefan remembered Uri's threat to kill everyone to get to Bonnie and his stomach somersaulted.

"Elena,"

* * *

Bonnie sat on the top step of the porch watching the dark ring around the moon, it was wider and further away from the moon then the day before. She wrapped her arms around herself and stood up to go back in, it was almost dawn and she hadn't slept a wink yet, wrapping her hand around the handle she froze and turned back.

"What happened to you?" She asked, eyes falling on Uri.

"Your friend," Uri replied, wiping his bloody hands on his top.

"Damon?"

"The other one," He stepped closer, pausing as she moved back against the door.

"He wouldn't hurt you unless he had a reason, not Stefan."

"I'm here to tell you, that I'm leaving,"

A frown creased Bonnie's forehead. "You're leaving?"

"I got what I came for, and I have Laila,"

"What do you mean? Laila's going with you,"

"She's not my sister by the way, but yeah, she wants to come with me,"

"You said you needed me,"

"I can't stay, Bonnie." Uri sped up to her, running his cold hand down her face as she shivered beneath his touch. "Be careful, I've only killed a few vampires, but there are more. Have your entourage see to them," He slowly backed away from her until he was just a shadow, then nothing. "Witches can see into the very soul of a man, human or not, you should try it."

His voice echoed and then it was gone, he was gone.

* * *

Elena and Bonnie were sat on the couch but both Salvatores remained standing, Stefan because he was wrapped up in his mistake and Damon, well because he was trying not to think about his almost sex dream with Bonnie.

"How'd he know where you lived?" Damon asked.

Bonnie cleared her throat. "Uh, Laila. I didn't see her but, he said she was going with him,"

Damon swallowed as Bonnie spoke up, his eyes hadn't met with hers since he and Stefan got there. "Pack a bag,"

"What?" Elena looked between the brothers.

"He knows where you_ live_, Elena," Damon said on behalf of Stefan who stood lost in a brooding session.

Elena stood up. "Stefan,"

He looked up at his girlfriend. "It's my fault, Elena. He threatened Bonnie, he threatened everyone, we fought and I wounded him,"

"And then he got away," Damon added. "End of story, pack a bag the both of you,"

"He doesn't want me," Elena said. "Protect Bonnie,"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but I happen to know for a _f-act_, that Bonnie the teenage witch won't stay without you,"

Elena hesitantly reached her hand out to Bonnie and took her upstairs to pack them an overnight bag, Uri hadn't been invited him but knowing where Bonnie was and unprotected was not a good look, at least at the boarding house he knew it'd be a fight if he even thought he could get near her or Elena.

"Snap out of the 'I'm so saintly I can't make a mistake' crap," Damon spat, shoving Stefan in the shoulder.

"What?"

"You made a mistake,"

"And Alex,"

"Okay, two mistakes_, get over it_," Damon warned, eyes flashing wide as he enunciated the words. "They were already in danger, you were trying to protect them,"

"I know but,"

"Stefan, get your head in the game." He moved close so that his face was inches from Stefan's. "I _don't _have time to baby you," He whispered.

Elena came down with Bonnie behind her and left a note on the coffee table for her aunt Jenner, alerting her that they'd left early to collect Caroline who they'd promised to help get all her old attic stuff organized for a garage sale after school.

"We're ready," Elena sighed.

Damon opened the door offering a smile as Elena passed with Stefan, although he adopted a more pained expression when Bonnie passed with her head down, why wasn't she looking at him and why couldn't he look at her when she did? So he thought about her naked, he was always thinking about someone of the opposite naked.

He clenched his jaw and closed the door behind them.

* * *

At the boarding house sleeping arrangements were a bit of a problem as Bonnie wouldn't take a room on her own, Damon had joked about it being because her room was next to his but that hadn't gone down too well which quite frankly bothered him. He may have been a homicidal vampire with lewd tendencies but that didn't mean he was going to hurt Bonnie, not again.

Elena promised to stay with her but after seeing the way Stefan said goodnight to them, she convinced Elena to go stay with him and if she fell asleep then it was okay, he looked like he needed to be with Elena more than she did. Deep down Bonnie knew Damon wouldn't do anything, it was more about sleeping in a strange bed, in an even stranger room, the first night was always the hardest.

Elena disappeared up the stairs with Stefan after giving Damon a warning glare, leaving Bonnie and him in the living room alone.

"I'm going to bed, want me to walk you to your room?" He asked, smirking at her before he poured himself a drink for bed and headed towards the stairs.

Bonnie slouched into the sofa looking down at the rolled up rug. "No, I'm just gonna stay up,"

He turned towards her. "What'd you need scouts honour, I'm not gonna…"

"I'm not worried about that, I just, can't sleep,"

Damon brought the glass to his lips and chugged it down, blowing out the hot air as the liquid burned his throat on the way down, he walked back into the room and sat on the chair by the table.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie asked, sitting up.

"…I don't know, don't ask," He frowned, not at her, at himself. What _was_ he doing?

Bonnie sat silently for a while. "Thanks,"

"For what? It's pointless going to bed now," Damon reasoned. "I like to be up at this time so I can watch the sun come up,"

Bonnie smiled, he'd more described Stefan than himself but she wasn't going to argue with him. "Ah," She said, resting her head on the arm of the chair. "I'm just…resting my eyes, they hurt,"

Damon waited until her eyes had been closed for a while and then he closed his own to listen to her steady heartbeat, he missed the feeling of it pounding against his own chest sometimes, when he remembered that he used to be human.

He got up, walking slowly towards where she now lay sleeping and pulled the blanket down over her petite body, fixing it under her chin before he returned to his chair, to watch, and to listen.

Beat.

…Beat.

…Beat

* * *

Damon groaned, arching his back until it cracked when he felt something light weighing down on him, when he opened his eyes he saw the blanket he'd put over Bonnie hours earlier draped over him, sitting up, he looked around the empty room.

"Hey," Stefan said.

Damon raised a brow. "Where's twitchy nose?"

"With Elena, upstairs. Did you sleep down here?"

"Course I didn't, unlike you, I don't get eternal wisdom by watching the sun come up," Damon slapped Stefan on the shoulder as he passed. "I need a shower,"

"Damon, you do know that's not it right? Uri wouldn't leave without his sister, and even if he did, there's a 400 hundred year old vampire in Mystic Falls, plucking locals for his little slave collection,"

"And here I was looking forward to an epic battle with Uri to the death, over a certain _Bennett witch_,"

"Damon, seriously,"

"I know, and we'll deal with it."

"We need to be vigilant, new faces, too friendly, too distant. We need to take them out one by one until they're all _gone_," Stefan spoke low and menacing.

Damon punched Stefan in the shoulder playfully. "That's what I'm talking about Stef, I like this you better." He pouted then. "As opposed to, I'd kill myself if I wasn't already dead,"

Stefan smiled at Damon's 'humour' or at least his interpretation of it. "Do we agree?"

"For once in over a _century _and a half, yes, I agree with you. And do we agree that infiltration can't be pulled off in a matter of weeks, and being the impatient man I am would probably…"

"Blow it," Stefan finished.

"I couldn't…get the words out,"

Stefan shook his head. "Yes, Damon. For once in over a century and a half, I agree with you,"

"We'll badass our way through the lot of em," He smiled, spinning on his heel.

"About that shower," Stefan teased.

"_Shut up_," Damon sung.

Elena and Bonnie came down the stairs with smiles on their faces, and it wasn't an innocent smile, it was one of those 'I know what you look like naked but you don't know that I know' smiles.

"Morning, Damon," Elena said, politely.

"Elena,"

Bonnie stepped off the last step. "Good Morning,"

"…Yeah, surprisingly," Damon flashed a grin and disappeared up the stairs, leaving Bonnie fighting a smile.

* * *

"We'd the _EPIC_ lovebirds go?" Damon asked, coming down the stairs while Bonnie busied herself with their bookshelf.

"Elena's gone to school, Stefan took her so he could play detective." Bonnie turned to face him, slapping her hands against her thighs as she tried to find something to say. "So, it's over," She sighed.

"I have to admit, I'm hurt that you can't wait to get away from me," Damon gripped his chest theatrically, a smile he made no attempt to hide shining through. "And I thought we'd made progress,"

Bonnie put her head down, feeling flustered. "It's not that, I just figured, if Uri was gone there'd be no more need for us…"

Damon closed the distance between them in a blink of her eyes. "Uri's gone, the ones he came with…still here. But yeah, you're right. If you think there's no need to learn how to become half the Witch Emily was then, there's no need." Damon would rather take a stake to the heart in that moment than ask her to stay or tell her that maybe he'd gotten used to the company, he had no right to.

"You still wanna help me learn all those spells?"

"I'm a nice guy like that, no actually, I'm…hungry and we had a deal,"

Bonnie's lips parted slightly, and closed again. "You kept to your end of things," She rolled up her sleeve wondering what Elena would think if she walked in just as Damon wrapped his lips around her wrist, how would she explain that away?

Damon smirked. "Oh, well if you're offering,"

"You came for me last night, you wanted to protect me,"

"Actually, Stefan…" Damon stopped himself as Bonnie's big green dewy eyes looked into his, right through him to the other side, his stomach somersaulted when she smiled and moved closer so that she was almost standing on his toes.

"Here," Bonnie lifted her wrist to him, biting gently on her bottom lip as he took her hand. "I wanna see your face this time,"

"Because it's so good for those panic attacks,"

"I wanna feel, something else, when I _see you_,"

Damon felt her trembling against him, and slowly brought her wrist to his lips, closing his eyes as he kissed her butter-soft skin. He heard her heartbeat speed up, felt it beat against his lips and looked at her with his bloodshot crystal blue eyes, expecting horror on her face, fear, disgust; something he'd purposely avoided when he turned her away from him the first time.

Damon penetrated her skin and began to drink her blood, waiting for her to change her mind and run but she didn't, she looked in him the eyes, looking past the blood and veins to see right through the blue and past it, he knew because he could see too.

He looked past the soft outline of her face and the delicate features, looking straight into her forest green stare as her blood intoxicated him with a rush of her feelings, new feelings, for him. And to feel for what she felt lightened the heaviness of his heart while he fed, for those short moments with her he was who she thought he _could_ be, he was a different person because he could see him through _her_ eyes. What a sight he was.

Bonnie smiled through the intermittent burn and focused on his face and how it softened towards her without him even knowing it, the veins faded and so did the blood around the ocean of his eyes. Bonnie saw the human inside of the monster, she saw Damon before the fangs, she the soul of a man.

"I see _you_," She whispered.

* * *

~Fin~ I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading it.


	10. Walking on Stones

A/N: Here is the long overdue chapter of 'Night Crawlers' thank you all for reading this story and hugs to those who sent me msgs, reviewed and are still favouriting even though I haven't update forever. Are you ready for more Bamon?

* * *

Chapter Ten – Chasing Pavements

"I'm worried about Bonnie, I don't think her spending so much time with Damon is a good idea," Elena said, entwining her fingers with Stefan's as they walked the school hall.

"I know, it's not ideal," Stefan sighed. "But Damon's on his best behaviour,"

"Damon and best behaviour shouldn't even go in the same sentence," Elena said, with biting sarcasm. "Uri's gone; it's been a little while now, so maybe he's not coming back,"

"Elena,"

"St Clair's nowhere to be seen, maybe he was never even here in the first place, everyone has disappeared so why is she still there with him, Stefan?"

"I don't know, but it was her choice to continue practicing with Damon and we have to respect that," Stefan stopped to face Elena, cupping her small face with both hands. "Listen, I won't let anything happen to Bonnie,"

Elena let out a breath. "I know, I just need her to be okay,"

"She's okay," Stefan assured. "I need you both protected and this is the only way I know how to do that, every day that Bonnie is with him she's getting stronger, Elena." He paused, a frown setting on his features as he felt a cold air take off in the small hairs at the back of his neck, Stefan turned around and found nothing there.

"Stefan, what is it?"

"I…I thought I felt something,"

"They can't walk in the sun," Elena placed a hand on his shoulder, moving it up to touch his face when he didn't respond. He'd been a little distant since Uri left. "Stefan, they can't walk in the sun,"

"I know that, Elena," _The half ways could._

"Whoa," Elena stepped back as he snapped. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Stefan sighed as she raised her brow at him. "I'm just a little on edge, I practically held the door open for Uri to come in and take Laila. He could come back at any time and try to snatch Bonnie,"

"I know you and Damon won't let that happen,"

"I should've known, you know. The guy's older, getting the drop on him…it should've clicked, it was too easy,"

"Uri's had who knows how many decades to plan this one attack on Mystic Falls, he wants his sister back…like Damon wanted Katherine." Elena cupped his face. "That wasn't your fault and neither is this,"

Stefan turned his head but Elena stood in front of him. "Elena,"

"I love you, Stefan,"

"But I…"

"I said, I love you," Elena smiled.

Stefan buried his chin into her shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close to her warm body, in turn warming his too. He held her tightly to him, going over Elena's words over again about none of it being his fault and although there was an element of truth about Uri, Stefan wasn't willing to let up on himself when it came to Damon.

"His sister," Stefan muttered into Elena's shoulder before breaking away.

"What?"

* * *

Bonnie reached out slowly as Damon stopped drinking, brushing her thumb across his lower lip as their eyes transfixed on each other.

"…Thanks," Damon said almost inaudibly, sitting back, he curled his lips over his fangs.

"Don't," Bonnie blurted. "I mean, you don't have to…hide it,"

"What are you doing?" He asked, incredulously. He and Bonnie were nothing more than an agreement, letting himself believe otherwise was a fool's game, she didn't really care, hell, if he was her he wouldn't so why should she? He frowned when she scooted closer and gently rubbed her thumb across his forehead. "_What are you doing_?" Damon enunciated.

"You have this pained expression on your face, I was just," Bonnie shrugged, chuckling nervously. "I just…"

"How cute," Damon interrupted her awkward babble.

Silence fell between them and Damon had never been comfortable with silence, especially with someone like Bonnie who had proved _impossible_ to read from one minute to the next. Her eyes wandered around the room and he realized that he'd made her uncomfortable but he wasn't good at being whatever they were.

He nudged her. "I get it, if I were you; I'd find me irresistible too,"

Bonnie rolled her eyes, smiling in spite of herself. "Get over yourself, Damon."

"Get under me, Bonnie."

Bonnie froze, eyes widening at his cheeky smile. "You're disgusting," She argued, hoping Damon wouldn't see how bad a liar she really was, after all, it was him she spent most nights trying _not_ to have sex with in her dreams. Soon realizing once she was awake that the thought of them being physical ran rampant in her thoughts whether she was asleep or not.

"Bonnie Bennett," Damon's smile grew wide with mischief as he pointed a finger at her. "You _want_ me,"

"No, no I don't," Bonnie defended.

"You wanna kiss older sexy danger guy, don't you?"

Bonnie's cheeks flushed. "I, how'd…"

"Caroline talks, A LOT,"

"I don't wanna kiss you," Bonnie got up from the bed, a sharp intake of breath jolting her back a step as Damon appeared in front of her.

Damon's smile melted away. "No?" He closed the gap between them, tilting his head sideways so that his lips were by her ear. "So if I kissed you right now, you'd push me away?"

Bonnie's eyes fell shut as his breath tickled her skin, the truth was she hadn't been able to think about anything else, Damon was consuming her thoughts and she was terrified of something happening between them but she wanted it anyway.

Damon leaned dangerously closer and Bonnie hummed in response to his lips gently pressing against her shoulder while sliding his hand down her arm to grip her waist. "Damon," She whispered as his other hand cupped her face.

"_Yes_?" He dragged, leaving a warm trail of kisses along her jawline as her hands fell to her sides, he liked to played to with his food first. Damon slowly moved back, lips hovering so close to hers that they were breathing on each other. "Last chance to stop me,"

"I…" _I Can't._

Damon smiled and went in to kiss her when his phone rang; he opened his eyes and found Bonnie's big green eyes staring back him, she shook her head and stepped away. "You should get that,"

"You gotta be kidding' me?" He asked, rhetorically.

"Might be Stefan," Bonnie speculated, burying her neck in her shoulders.

And just like that the moment was dead, unfortunately the same couldn't be said for Damon's partner in crime, feeding on Bonnie aroused him beyond the average piece of meat in a skirt, until he had to have her but he'd been fighting it until now. It was sex and then blood or it was blood during sex, when was sex not part of a vampire's thing? When he'd made a deal with a certain Witch.

Damon made a mental note to thank Stefan for his impeccable timing.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, answering it with hesitance and rolled his eyes as Bonnie pulled her cardigan together. "This better top what I had in mind," Damon said with his back to the Bonnie. Giving it a second thought, Damon snarled. "Who am I kidding? _What_ do you want?"

Bonnie looked on, ignoring the hot waves coursing through her body every time Damon looked at her.

"You have five seconds to get to the point," Damon said deadpan, stepping outside of the room.

Bonnie waited for him to leave and began pacing the room. She ran her trembling hand through loose curls trying to school herself before he came back but the tingling sensation that travelled through her entire body was winning over any argument she tussled with.

"He's a vampire," She whispered. "He's a vampire, you're a witch…Damon's a…"

"What is that? Some kind of witchy mantra,"

Bonnie spun around. "Uh, no it's…" Shifting weight from her left to right leg, Bonnie crossed her arms. "What'd Stefan say?"

"Where were we?" Damon smirked, moving closer as he narrowed his eyes on her petite frame.

"We were…" The witch swallowed. "You were telling me what Stefan wanted,"

Damon's smiled faded a little and his eyes flashed wide. "I need you to locate someone for me,"

"Who are we looking for?" She sighed, relief coursing through her body when Damon allowed her to change the subject.

"Lily."

Bonnie took a deep breath, gently rubbing her fingers across the old sepia colored picture that Stefan had found of Uri with Lily and closed her eyes.

"Do you see anything?" Damon asked.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Give me a minute,"

Bonnie took slow steady breathes, circling her thumb over their faces until the images vibrated in her hand, moving away from the laminated paper to form in front of her like a projection, a full image, like they were right in front of her in real time.

Damon frowned, looking beside Bonnie to see what she was looking at yet he couldn't see anything but her reaction to it. "What do you see?"

Bonnie opened her mouth to speak but the words were lodged in her throat, she reached out to hold on to something so she wouldn't fall. It was Damon's hand but the petite witch couldn't tear her eyes away from the home video now set up in the old vampire's room.

Uri and Lily held each other around the neck for the picture that their Latina friend was going to take and then they froze and went backwards, uncurling their arms from each other to run like they were on rewind into a busy market while looking behind them.

They dropped the camera to the floor and began walking backwards into the crowds but as things sped up again, this time forward; Bonnie felt her heart speed up with it. Uri, Lily and their friend walked back towards the camera and picked it up, that was when a middle aged, poorly dressed, dirty shoeless man saw and started to chase them.

They ran until they were tired, leaving Bonnie exhausted before the images sped up again barely giving the youngest Bennett witch time to catch her breath.

Uri slept on the cold wooded floor of an abandoned brothel house with a jacket over him for warmth, and Bonnie watched as his sister sat at an old table writing a note. She couldn't make out the words but Lily's tears soaked the paper and ran through the ink, leaving a trail.

Leaving the note on the bed she picked up her stuff, all she owned was the grubby white dress she wore, her journal and the picture her friend had taken of her and Uri.

VD***********************************VD

Damon shook Bonnie gently by her shoulders but her focus was stolen, he could feel her shaking beneath his touch, feel the vibration of heat radiating from her as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. "Bonnie," He called, shaking her harder.

"It's the only way he'll be safe," Bonnie said.

"Who?" Damon asked, brows drawing together in question.

"I must leave before dawn,"

"What are you talking about?"

Bonnie felt the energy draining from her body slowly as Lily ran, but she wasn't just running, she was almost flying because of how fast she was, constantly looking behind her back. The images came fast and furious, almost too fast for Bonnie to work out the era; it was Lily's change in style that hinted to the time periods she lived through, always running.

Finally, her mind began to rest as Lily slowed down, settling in American, in a small town that looked like Bonnie's hometown, only different, there were horses with their carriages instead of cars and bikes and old buildings instead of the ones the young girl was so used to.

Lily was in Mystic Falls. But, who was she running from?

The tall beauty held the picture in her hand, tears trailing down her porcelain face as she said goodbye to the only thing that connected Bonnie to her and then placed it against a tombstone near the church.

Bonnie was seeing a time that she never thought possible, vampires being captured and locked away by the townspeople of Mystic Falls but Lily deliberately put herself in harm's way, it didn't make sense, surely she knew what would happen to her.

"Lily!"

Lily didn't turn to face the voice that called, she already knew all too well who it belonged to, instead she ran in the middle of a round up and bared her teeth for all to see, lurching forward as though to attack. Panic escaped the people and then she was stabbed in the back with a shot of vervain and went down, her eyes darted forward to see the owner of the voice that called out but he was gone.

Lily sighed, a smile gracing her lips, she was free. Lily closed her eyes.

And so did Bonnie.

Damon caught Bonnie in his arms as she fell backward and lifted her against his chest with ease, he placed her on the bed and stepped back to look at her for a minute, before fetching some water to place at his bedside for when she woke up.

Panic would've set in if it hadn't felt a strong pulse moments before but he had seen it once with Emily when Katherine had her do a spell but it was much bigger than a locator spell, Bonnie just needed to rest and then he could feel guilty about making her wear herself out. For now, he'd just watch her sleep.

Damon sat on the bed, reaching out to move the hair away from her face and found he couldn't pull away, grazing his cold fingers down her smooth cheek. Damon smiled in spite of himself.

"All of the boys you could have," Damon grazed his thumb gently across her lips. He stood as Bonnie stirred awake and watched as she sprung forward.

"What!" Bonnie cried out, her eyes wide and questioning.

Damon sat her back. "Hey,"

"What happened?"

"Hmm, well I've been waiting," Damon looked at the time on his cell. "About two minutes to find that out,"

Bonnie took a long shaky breath, grateful when Damon nodded towards the water behind her. "Thank you," she whispered, grasping the glass tight to gulp the water down greedily. "So thirsty,"

"Now you know how I feel," Damon said, with an insolent smile ever so bright.

"My sides are splitting," she muttered.

Damon rolled his eyes. "So what do we know, birdie?"

Bonnie raised a brow at that. "Don't call me that,"

"Fair enough, witch." He flashed a grin, feeling static in his groin when she ground her teeth, jaw tight and eyes burning with fire because of _him_. "Alright…_Bonnie_,"

Bonnie waited a few moments, she'd learned a couple lessons about Damon Salvatore since they'd started hanging out, one of them was that silence made the vampire squirm; it was so small, so delicate that you wouldn't see it unless you looked for it. Bonnie always looked for it, because monsters didn't squirm, they couldn't and every little emotion that slipped through Damon's perfectly hidden cracks consoled her grieving heart.

"The picture Uri left behind, it…took me somewhere,"

"Where?"

"I saw where Uri and his sister came from. Lily was running to protect him,"

"From _who_?" Damon asked, his eyes wide with incredulity.

"I don't know," Bonnie's caught the eye roll and sensed his frustration. "Why do you want to know where Lily is?"

"Uri finds Lily, we find him," Damon replied. "And kill him,"

Bonnie felt her heart sink. "But he's gone, why look for him just to kill him?"

"He's a threat,"

Her skin went cold as he snarled at her. "He hasn't actually hurt anyone,"

"He threatened to hurt you, that's all I need,"

"Okay," Bonnie interrupted. "I'm sorry, you're just looking out for me and,"

"I'm looking out for Elena and you as a favour to her, because _you're her_ best friend," What Damon wasn't saying is that he kind of wanted her to be his best something, just a little bit. He'd take anything at this point, as long she was _his_.

Instead, he did what anyone would expect of Damon, he flipped the switch.

Bonnie felt her breath leave her and had to gasp to get it back, Damon's words bit sharply at her skin, and for a moment he was that vampire she'd drop without a thought if it wasn't for Elena and Stefan. "I find it hard to believe you've always been this guy, this ass,"

"Well _believe_ it,"

After a moment, when the nausea passed, Bonnie broke the silence. "I don't know where Lily is, but she _was_ in the tomb,"

"You're kidding?"

"She knew what would happen and she purposely exposed herself, Damon she was here in 1864 and I think she's still here now, somewhere,"

Damon sighed. "Stefan was right,"

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked, eyes following Damon as he moved towards the door.

"To meet Stefan, you stay here and get your strength back,"

"Oh, no, I'm coming."

Bonnie tried to get off the bed but found Damon's strength to be overpowering as he pushed her back down, she was weaker than anticipated by the spell, which gave Damon the upper hand, but Bonnie would be damned if she let that happen. "Fine, I'll lie here on one condition,"

Damon's face twisted, as though the word '_condition'_ was alien to him. "I _don't _negotiate,"

"With me, you do," Bonnie said, eyes fixed on his, challenging him and herself.

Damon contemplated fighting her on it, proving that he was the terrifying vampire and she was just a feeble witch but she was contradicting what he first thought of 'd witnessed something fierce and powerful emerge from someone so delicate and gentle, and he was beginning to think that just maybe he was the reason for that.

"What?"

"Stay,"

After a moment of silence, Damon sighed and got on to his phone. "Texted him, but you have to find a way to keep me entertained,"

"I wanna know about Katherine," Bonnie whispered.

"Not exactly my idea of fun," Damon frowned. "I thought Elena already filled you in,"

Bonnie sat up slowly, leaning against the headboard. "Elena didn't know, Katherine,"

It turned out that neither did Damon, and every time he was forced to remember that, his gums would itch and his blood would boil. "It's the shortest story in history. I loved her, my father didn't so he tossed her vampire ass in the church to burn…turned out she was never in there, end of story." He gave a curt smile.

"I can't imagine how that felt," Bonnie mused, her heart involuntarily clenching for him.

"Really?" Damon smiled. "How'd I feel, hmm, like buying a puppy,"

"If you're scared to talk about Katherine, or too hurt, we don't have to,"

"What is that, reverse Psychology? Precious I'm not much younger than the guy who created the Psycho- babble so spare me,"

"Okay, ask _me_ something you really want to know and I'll tell you,"

The left side of Damon's mouth quirked up, so smug. "Tell me something you'd never even dream of telling anyone, something not even Elena knows,"

Bonnie swallowed, there wasn't a secret in the world she wouldn't tell Elena or Caroline, except maybe one thing. "Fine, and then you tell me something," she patted beside her.

"This is a bad idea," Damon's eyes fell from her enticing eyes, a tick setting in his jaw. He slowly moved up the bed to sit next to her and crossed his arms. "You first, chuckles."

VD**********************************VD

"I was worried about my first kiss, and I was stressing and he…" She smiled reminiscently. "Calmed me down, tried to reassure me that it wasn't a big deal, and before I knew it, he'd kissed me. And, then he said 'now you've had your first kiss,"

There was a minute of silence, and then a burst of laughter, Damon was finding complete hilarity in everything she said, it was proving hard to impress a vampire as old as him.

On the other hand, Bonnie learned of a time that she couldn't imagine living in, all Damon's stories fascinated her and though he skirted over his life with Stefan and time with Katherine, she could hear the pain in his voice and the way it deepened, words falling forcefully from his lips.

With Damon living as long as he had, she had no doubt how much history lingered but it had become clear that he hadn't dealt with most of it, kind of how she hadn't dealt with her father's distance and her mother's absence. Some things were too hard to face, especially when you didn't know how to.

A comfortable silence fell lightly between them like a freshly laundered sheet floating to the bed, without really trying, Damon had shared better times of his life with her and without really saying anything, shared the harder times too. All humorous of course, and Bonnie expected nothing less.

Bonnie's stories weren't half as entertaining, considering the fact that she hadn't actually been alive very long but her attempts were enough to get a cheeky smile out of Damon more than once.

He turned to Bonnie, staring at her elongated neck as she rested her head back against the headboard, thebig vein in her neck, bulging and full of blood. The mere thought of it intoxicating him, that is until her tongue swiped across her lower lip drawing his icy blue eyes to the succulent bounce of her mouth instead.

Distracting, perpetually, distracting and annoyingly alluring.

Things that were beyond Damon's control didn't sit well with him, and well, his growing interest in Bonnie belonging to him was beyond his control. His hand wandered between them, purposely resting it next to her leg. "What kind of secret is that anyway?" he argued. "Kissing pretty boy, next door doesn't count,"

Bonnie's eyes grew, she thought it was horrifying to kiss your friend, soon to be best friend's guy, but apparently Damon didn't agree. "I kissed Matt,

"The brooding male model hadn't got with your BFF until after you're incredibly boring five second lip lock,"

"Still," Bonnie defended, smiling at his comment. "We all knew it would happen,"

"High school dribble," Damon said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm so sorry my life bores you…" Bonnie chuckled.

He rolled his head toward Bonnie, eyes meeting hers. "I want something real,"

Bonnie swallowed and she wasn't so sure he didn't hear that along with her heart pounding. Her fingers fiddled with the velvety sheets. "Grams," she whispered.

_Oh_. Damon grimaced, and her pain dug a hole in the pit of his stomach.

"She was the only real thing in my life," Bonnie's eyes never strayed from pattern around her sleeve. "My dad refuses to acknowledge me for who I am, _what_ I am. I catch him staring at me sometimes, like I'm…the plague,"

"He's a dick," Damon said, with a sharpness in his tone that sobered them both up for several long moments. He wasn't only angry at Bonnie's dad, he was still bitterly struggling to accept and understand the disappointment he always saw in his own father's eyes.

"I don't know, what we are, isn't exactly normal, Damon."

"Don't be that girl, it's a turn off,"

"What girl?" Bonnie looked at him, eyes trailing the outline of his profile as he sat with his eyes closed.

"Don't be that girl with the tragic story. How many Witches do you know?" Their eyes met, and he caught her startle at the sound of his voice. "Since when was being different a bad thing?"

When Bonnie smiled and it lit up the room, a warm feeling travelled through his body, a fleeting moment of happiness, it was gone before he could be annoyed or uncomfortable about it, but it had lingered just long enough to make him crave it one more time, secretly, like happiness even in spurts was dirty.

Bonnie put her head down, a shy smile hidden behind her long locks.

Damon leaned in, pulling her face to his and a whirlwind of emotions tussled inside of him when her eyes lifted to his gaze, he knew they weren't only his emotions, they were hers too and it set his skin on fire.

Bonnie let Damon guide her mouth to his and closed her eyes when the heat of his lips enveloped her, waiting for him to kiss her.

"Never took you for a voyeur, Stefan,"

Damon's voice cut into Bonnie's romanticized thoughts, her eyes darted to the door where Stefan stood, his concerned stare burning a hole into her.

Thing was, Stefan was just one of her problems because not only did she almost fall into a lip lock with a vampire, in his room, Bonnie had seen more than she'd let on to Damon in her failed locator/successful vision spell. She had not only seen Lily's life, she'd seen Uri's too. He'd found the picture, he'd been in Mystic Falls in 1864 and he'd been in the Salvatore boarding house with Giuseppe Salvatore.

What was the connection, how she going to tell Damon that after what she'd seen, she didn't want him to kill Uri and where was Lily?

* * *

Matt stumbled through the door a little after ten having worked the late shift. He was exhausted and he couldn't remember the last time he got any school work done, but the bills needed paying and having a roof over his head took precedence over school assignments.

He placed his grocery bags down on the counter and began unpacking his dinner, but once again he had too much food for one person and it forced him to think of Vicki. He still thought of her every time he shopped, cooked or brought home extras, like she used to do for him but she wasn't around anymore and he'd only remember once he was home again, on his own.

Matt sat on his couch as the microwave hummed and flicked through the channels, but there was never anything to watch and the loneliness was slowly creeping in, like it did every night. But, instead of going to bed, Matt picked up his phone.

"Uh, hey, it's me. I got too much again," Matt laughed. "I'm gonna fix you a plate and before you ask, Caroline's not here, she's got this thing with her mom." A smile spread across his face. "Okay, I'll see you in a minute,"

Matt pushed off the sofa to set another plate and put it in the microwave, burning himself on his scorching plate as he quickly set it down on the counter. "Damn it," His head snapped to the door as he heard laughter.

"Men, all the same no matter the century,"

"Whatever," Matt chuckled, putting his hand under the cold tap.

"Come here, let me see,"

Matt closed the tap and faced her. "Nah, I'm cool. You go sit, put something on. You know where all the DVDs are,"

"That I do,"

"Hey, Lily,"

"Yes," Lily spun on her heel, her long black hair whipping behind her with an innocent glow in her eyes.

"Thanks for hanging out tonight, you're a good friend,"

"I should be thanking you," Lily walked over to Matt, pupils growing eerily wide. "Remember, you cannot tell anyone about me, it is our little secret."

"I know," Matt said, handing her a plate.

Lily smiled, taking her plate to the living room and kicking off her shoes as she snuggled into the couch. Matt sat down beside her with his dinner, a cheeky grin tugging at his lips. "No more subtitled movies, my eyes are done,"

Lily giggled, eyes outlining the vein in his neck until a rush of blood travelled to her face and had her squeezing her eyes shut until the urge passed. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving," Lily smiled curtly. "Eat up,"

~Finished

I hope the writing isn't as small as it looked when I was editing it in the preview window. 3


	11. Explosions In The Sky

A/N: Thank you for the recent favs and alerts, guys. And a huge thanks to the ever so loyal reviewer, babyshan.

Shout out to David, Eddie & Yson too, thank you. =)

Summary: Actions have consequences, because for every action there's a reaction.

Chapter Eleven – Like Explosions In The Sky

* * *

"_Alright, man. I'll see you tomorrow," Matt nudged his shoulder into the door, leaving Mystic Grill for the night and started the lonely trek home. He held a bag of containers full of left overs against his hip, taking in the night air when a scream ripped through the stillness. Matt froze and remained still for a few moments, hoping it was his imagination but when it happened again there was no question that someone was in trouble, and without time for a second rational thought he started running._

_Matt came to a corner and found himself heading down some steps and into an alley not far from the Grill, his stomach flipped like a cartwheel and his eyes grew at the sight of blood. He took slower more cautious steps into the darkness and saw the body of a girl slumped against the stone cold wall, eyes vacant, skin grey and sitting in a pool of red._

_A few feet away, Matt heard heavy breathing and saw another girl crouched in the corner, her white dress and bare feet grubby and her long wavy hair all around her like vine, spilling over her shoulders. The naïve teenager stepped in front of her and crouched down, his eyes studying the blood that stained the front of her dress when he gripped her shoulder. _

"_Are you hurt?" He shook her gently, ducking his head a little lower to see her face. "Hey, miss. Are you okay?"_

"_Get away, don't look,"_

"_Let me get a look at you," Matt fell backward on his backside when she turned to face him, revealing her blood red eyes._

"_Help me," She cried, veins fading away along with her fangs._

_Matt scurried backward, eyes wide with horror as she moved towards him. "Your face, you're a demon." He said._

_Lily stopped as Matt met a wall and stood to her feet as he did, closing the distance between them. "Help me," she repeated, this time with a slow and steady voice as her pupils grew._

_After a second, Matt's fright turned to concern. He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her into him. "Are you okay? We have you get you out of here,"_

"_Take me home," Lily compelled._

"_I'll bring you home with me, get you cleaned up." Matt rubbed her shoulders, trying to warm her ice cold skin. "We need to call the police and an ambulance for your friend,"_

"_No," Lily said, looking at him as they walked away. "We must go now, I cannot be seen,"_

"_Okay,"_

_Matt got her home and cleaned up, offering her an outfit of his mother's old stuff because he couldn't bring himself to give any of Vicki's things away, his mom's clothes were a little out dated but that got knocked down the list of priorities. _

_He couldn't remember at what point he had ditched the food but he was regretting the haste of his heroic fail when he found that all he had in his cupboards was canned peas and Easy Mac. Matt concocted what he could, not that she ate much that night. _

"_Hey, what's your name?"_

"_Lily,"_

_He smiled. "I'm Matt,"_

* * *

"He did what?" Elena cried into her phone, looking over her shoulder to make sure Bonnie was still in the bathroom. "He did what?" She repeated; this time whispering.

"He didn't get to do anything, I interrupted before things got…complicated,"

"He's unbelievable, Stefan. I knew they were spending too much time together. He's messing with her head," Elena's voice came through the door as Bonnie leaned her ear against it, her best friend called that whispering?

Bonnie leaned her back against the door, fingers curling around the handle as she listened to Elena go on to make excuses for her, she was fragile and vulnerable, she couldn't think straight, her grams was gone and Damon was playing on her state of mind.

She shook her head at Elena's words, as predicted Stefan had squealed to his partner in crime but, there was one minor detail that was missing in their plan to rescue her from Damon's perpetual charm and diabolical plan to take advantage. Bonnie wanted him to. Yes, it was wrong on so many levels that she couldn't even begin to make sense of it, but she'd grown fond of his self-medicated humour and his failed attempt to distance himself from humanity. In the privacy of her own mind, Bonnie hoped Elena wasn't the only reason for that.

There were so many layers to Damon, secrets of the heart and the more time the Bennett witch spent with him, the more she wanted to be the one who peeled back those layers and discovered his secrets.

Bonnie rushed to the sink and opened the tap as Elena ended her call, turning to the door as her best friend who meant well pushed it open. "Hey,"

"Hey, Bon. You've been in here a while, everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah, just trying to wake myself up,"

Elena smiled and walked in, leaning against the sink. "You know you can talk to me, about anything, don't you?"

Bonnie nodded. "I know,"

"Okay," Elena pushed off the sink, offering a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Ready for school?"

Bonnie dried her hands and then hooped her arm with Elena's. "Yes,"

* * *

"Finished discussing me with your girlfriend?" Damon asked rhetorically, crossing the room to fix him a glass of bourbon. "Did you do a little character study? I'm not as complex as one might think, you know,"

Stefan turned to face his older brother, with a matching smile. "We're worried about Bonnie,"

Damon feigned concern. "I'm worried about her too. Do you know she's been watching Sabrina the teenage witch for tips?"

"Bonnie's been through a lot," Stefan noted the eye roll and the long swig Damon took of his drink. "She's vulnerable,"

"No, she's a witch, when is everyone gonna realize that?" Damon growled.

"Damon,"

"Stefan," Damon said, with his eyes wide and tone hostile.

Stefan watched his brother intently and then gave a revealing sigh. "Never mind. I'm, uh, I'm gonna go see Anna. She might have been keeping Lily this whole time,"

"Skipping school? And here I was thinking you were the good brother." Damon resented Stefan's silence, he knew the look all too well, his brother was analysing him with that intense eye thing he did. "Stop it,"

"You like her company don't you?"

"Don't be so nauseatingly sentimental, Stef," Damon swirled his glass, staring at the tornado at the bottom of it to avoid eye contact with his brother, because if the Salvatore's were good at anything it was spotting deceit in each other's eyes.

"I didn't see it before. I was busy figuring Uri out. I see it now though," Stefan smiled sincerely then.

Damon saw the change in his brother's attitude and it went from accusing to approving, which pissed him off. "See what? How bad your hair cut is?"

"The fact that you're not bored with Bonnie by now says something, Damon,"

"Who said I wasn't bored? I'm giving Bonnie the tools to protect this sorry town so I don't have to, as soon as the witch Michael Bay's someone's shit, she's out the door,"

"I'm not buying it,"

"That's convenient because I'm not selling it," Damon picked up the crystal glazed bottle and walked past his brother. "Speaking of bored," He gave Stefan a terse smile and left the room.

* * *

Uri watched from afar as Bonnie climbed out of Elena's jeep, they were laughing and joking but the witch's eyes were far away, her smile was more of a reassurance than a genuine emotion of being happy. He tied his hair into a pony tail and pulled his long jacket together to shut out the chill, he was cold enough.

A smile played on his lips when Bonnie paused and turned around, her eyes searching the faces in the crowd. It was almost as though she was scared to find him because she didn't look long before she turned back and continued towards the Grill, jumping out of her skin when Barbie and Ken came behind them.

The brothers were vampires, they'd never believe that he'd left without getting what he came for, and if he were them he'd do everything to find whatever it was they wanted, so that he could sit behind it when they came to collect with a smile on his face. The truth was, whether they liked it or not, every vampire needed a witch to survive, to protect and to _find_. It wouldn't be long before Bonnie and the Salvatore brothers tracked Lily down, leading him straight to her.

He just had to be patient, but after waiting over a century for a witch powerful enough to open the tomb, Uri was sorely lacking in that particular skill.

"Oh, beautiful, do we need a nudge?" He asked aloud as she disappeared behind the door.

* * *

The sun had finally set and for Ava that was always when the fun and games began, only this time she was in limbo since she'd witnessed Stefan kill Uri, her purpose disintegrated and fell at her feet, without Uri was no Lily and just like that she'd lost her family.

Uri had never let his guard down before but for some reason he not only allowed a connection to be made with Bonnie, he let Stefan too close and paid for it. Ava felt the blood rush to her eyes, the mere thought of the witch's blood igniting fire in her own. It was their turn to pay.

* * *

Damon wiped the blood from his lips, unsatisfied with the quality he grunted and leaned forward, cupping the store clerk's face and giving her the eye. "Confessions are not my thing, so you're gonna forget everything that just happened, understood?"

"What confession?" She asked.

"Good girl," Damon answered his phone when it vibrated in his pocket, still holding the woman against the wall. "What?"

"Lily was staying with a woman called Mrs Flowers, Anna says it's the last time she saw her. I'm gonna check it out,"

"You do that," Damon said as his fangs retracted.

"…Damon, what have you done?"

"Do you really wanna know?"

"Damon,"

Damon cancelled the call and returned it to his pocket. "Hey," he said, gripping the middle aged woman's shoulders. "Go away,"

"Good night," She said quietly, picking her bag and keys from the floor before she stepped out of the shadows, continuing to the car park where she was heading when the vampire had grabbed her.

Damon thought he'd feel better after breaking his no blood pact with Bonnie, he thought it would bring back that high he got from being the carefree vampire, but as he walked towards the Grill all he felt was guilt. Damon stepped into the Grill with the sole intention of drowning it in alcohol when he saw Bonnie at a table with her friends, without even knowing, she'd become his biggest buzz kill.

Bonnie had got under his skin with her slyness and now he couldn't ignore her like he used to, he couldn't walk past them with a flying offensive comment and drink his night away.

Damon backed out of the door with a roll of the eyes when he heard Bonnie make an excuse to her friends about needing fresh air, then he heard her footsteps behind _him_.

"Damon,"

"Bonnie," Damon replied, with practiced impassiveness.

"Damon," Bonnie called again. "Wait a minute,"

Damon stopped and turned to her. "Shouldn't you be inside with your friends?"

"Did I do something wrong?" Bonnie asked, hugging her elbows.

"You mean apart from interrupting my pensive walk under the moonlight?"

Bonnie smiled, her gaze falling away from his. "Yeah,"

"Well, you are a little annoying. You have judgy eyes and your tone of voice sometimes…" Damon offered a winsome smile and walked back. "Coming with?"

Bonnie looked up at him and nodded.

* * *

Ava watched a tall dark haired man walk the witch home, she hadn't seen him before but the pair seemed to know each other well, well enough to know he was with a witch, Ava could care less, she had nor the patience or the time to wait for him to leave her alone. She was a vampire, it was her basic nature to leave a trail of casualties wherever she went, apologising or feeling guilty served no-one, it was what it was.

Ava gave them a fair distance, far enough away not to be spotted in the peripheral but close enough to follow the witch's scent.

* * *

"Did Elena lecture you, warn you away from me after last night?"

Bonnie swallowed, her stomach somersaulting. "No, nothing happened last night,"

"If you say so," Damon frowned, he wasn't the only one who felt the attraction between them and he certainly weren't the only one feeling things they shouldn't, he'd felt her emotions the night before, courtesy of drinking witch blood.

"Listen, Damon, I have this really strong feeling,"

"Here it comes,"

"There's something about Uri,"

Damon stopped just two houses short of Elena's house. "Come again?"

"I trust him, when we touched, I felt something. I don't know how to explain it,"

"Are you a complete idiot? Uri's a vampire who brought a group of people here to eat half the residents of Mystic Falls, and did you forget his plans for your little friend?"

"I know all that, Damon," Bonnie said, her voice quivering slightly. "I'm not pretending I understand it, but my gut is telling me that he's not completely bad,"

"What is it with you and Elena, always trying to rescue the villain," Damon turned to walk away, feeling the out of reach sting of his own words.

"Damon, I'm trying to talk to you,"

"Why?" Damon asked, turning back. "Huh. Why me?"

Bonnie fought the urge to close into herself and instead raised her head, staring him squarely in the eyes. "I don't know, I thought,"

"You thought what? That we were friends, that we connected," Damon swallowed, brows pulled together when taking in her petite frame and the way she refused to break eye contact. "Laila's gone and do you know why, because Uri took her. He and Stefan fought, he brought Uri back unconscious and when our backs were turned he snatched her."

"No…"

Damon closed the gap between them in one fluid motion, his blue eyes bright and the tone in his voice menacing. "Stefan drove a steak into your new friend because he threatened _you_, Uri told Stefan that he wasn't going to stop killing until he had you, until he had your blood,"

Bonnie stepped back, startled by Uri's confession and Damon's reaction to it. "I can't, I just felt this…"

"You don't know what you feel, that's the problem. And when you do feel, you're too afraid to own it,"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Good night, Bonnie," Damon turned his back on her.

"Damon," Bonnie had the words there in the back of her mind but she refused to summon them to her tongue, she couldn't. But, as he walked away and she reached out, she felt herself jerk back and then a familiar sharp pain travelled through her neck.

Ava gripped Bonnie from behind, one arm around the waist while the other gripped her shoulder and bit down into her flesh, the blood and the witch's screams instantly intoxicating her. Ava was going to drain her of every drop when she was ripped away with a force so strong that she felt herself flying backward, dark haired and handsome was a vampire. Well, this wasn't a dynamic she'd seen before, not one that worked.

He ran to her, grabbing her by her scruff and ramming her into the side of a truck. "Who are you?"

"Your mama," She said, spinning him around and slamming his face into the window. "You've been a bad boy,"

Bonnie held her neck as it bled, spilling over her hand and ignored the dizzy feeling as Damon and the girl vamp fought. He could hold his own but she clearly had the upper hand and Bonnie wasn't going to let anything happen to him.

Bonnie focused what little energy she had left on the girl while she and Damon exchanged blow for blow, breaking everything in their path and as she lifted Damon by his neck, Bonnie took pleasure in bursting the blood vessels in the bitchy vamp's head.

Lady fangs dropped Damon and fell to her knees, digging her fingers into her head as though the pain from that would compensate, in the midst of trying to recover, Damon ripped out a car antenna and pushed the girl on to her back.

"Who are you?" He asked, slowly pushing the antenna into her chest, adding agony to her aneurysm, she refused to talk and he pushed further and further going for her heart.

"Damon, look out," Bonnie screamed, a figure passing her eyes so fast that she couldn't make out the face but before she knew it, Damon was being hauled by his scruff into the air like a shot put. "Uri," Bonnie whispered.

Uri picked up Damon, noticing a large pole going through the space between his shoulder blades to his chest. "Something tells me if you weren't injured, this wouldn't be so easy,"

"So you're Uri," Damon choked. "Gotta say, I thought you'd have better hair, a ponytail, really?"

Uri smiled in spite of the situation. "I like you,"

Damon slammed his fists against Uri's temples, landing on his left knee and right hand, and without a moment to recover began pulling the asthma inducing instrument out of his body. He flung it away, running into Uri and catching him in his midsection.

"Uri," Bonnie yelled, pinning the girl against the truck with a force naked to the eye that had her screaming out in pain, but her cries did nothing to break into their smart ass comments between blows, that is until Bonnie clenched her fist, making Uri's friend gaps for breath. In the end it was her silence not her screams that caught his attention, and forced him to retract his mid launched fist from Damon's face.

Uri turned around, smiling at Bonnie. "Looking pretty as ever," her steeled silence irked him; Ava had ruined his hard work. "I was just helping him up," He added, dusting off Damon's jacket. "There you go,"

"Damon for your friend here," Bonnie said.

Uri stepped aside and Bonnie ran to Damon to hold him upright until he healed, they both watched as Uri walked over to his friend. Bonnie released her hold and she fell on her face.

"Good news," Uri said. "I've found my sister, my real one. I'll be back for you soon, petal,"

"Over my dead body," Damon snarled, taking a step in front of _his_ witch.

"Well let's be honest, someone already beat me to it, so I guess it's over your dead-dead body," Uri watched Bonnie intently and then hauled vamp girl over his shoulder, disappearing into the night.

"Arrogant dick," Damon growled.

Bonnie smiled weakly, taking a shaky step back as everything around her started spinning.

"Bonnie," Damon called out as she fell backward and sped behind her to lower her gently to the floor. He pushed her hair away, grimacing at the nasty bite mark and without thinking twice he bit into his wrist and pushed it against her lips. "Drink,"

Bonnie choked as she swallowed, the metallic taste making her gag instinctively, it was when she opened her eyes and saw Damon's face that she stopped struggling and her wound healed. He wiped the blood from her lower lip with the pad of his thumb.

"Thank you," Bonnie mumbled taking his hand and letting him pull her up to her feet.

Damon remained quiet, tilting her head to check the bruise again. "It's completely healed." He said, with his voice hushed as he watched her with hooded eyes, the heat building in his belly tying him in knots as his need for Bonnie intensified. _Thank you_, he thought.

* * *

Uri slammed Ava against the stone wall of his already crumbling hideout, ramming his fist into her chest and squeezing her heart. "As promised," Uri smiled, his obsidian black eyes surrounded by blood. "Give me a reason to squeeze this until it bursts in my bare hand,"

"I thought that vampire had killed you," Ava gasped, her hands gripping his wrists tight. "Please, I was avenging your death,"

"You saw the witch kill me, did you?" He asked, fingers clutching the muscle tighter.

Ava's breathing quickened and the tears glistened in her eyes. "I blamed her for your wavering focus,"

"Wavering focus?" Uri repeated, his voice a low deep throated growl. "She _is_ my focus, without her," He hesitated at the very thought. "Saving Lily will mean nothing. I made it clear as an STD that I wanted nothing to happen to Bonnie." Uri let go of her heart and wiped his bloody hand on her tank top as though it were a towel. "Next time, I will kill you, Ava. No questions asked."

"I'm sorry, Uri,"

Uri sighed, moving a strand of hair behind his ear. "I've lost Bonnie's trust, thanks to you. Now I'll have to use force," He gave his back to Ava, a smile now lingering as he thought of Damon. "or incentive."

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me where you were going?" Elena asked, storming towards Bonnie and pulling her into a hug. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine,"

"Damon," Elena glared at the back of him as he poured himself a drink.

"What she said," Damon muttered into his glass.

Elena crossed her arms. "She could've been killed,"

Stefan rubbed Elena's back. "Hey, the important thing is she's okay,"

"Hello, I'm over here," Bonnie said, waving her arms as her friends directed their glares at Damon who seemed to be mastering the ability to shut out the noise, or in this case Elena and Stefan.

"Why are you so angry, Elena?" Damon asked, stepping down to walk over to her, this banter had become a pattern.

Elena swallowed, eyes averting his gaze. "I don't think it's a good idea that Bonnie spends so much time with you,"

"Enough," Bonnie stormed to the middle, her tiny fists clenched. "Elena, I know you're looking out for me but when did you become my mom?"

Elena opened her mouth to speak and then clamped her jaw shut, the dip in her neck hollowing. "I'm not, it's Damon, he has been messing with your head. It's what he does,"

Bonnie bit her tongue, fighting the urge to accuse Elena of jealousy. They'd all seen it; something lingered between Damon and Elena every time they were in the same room together, because there was a familiarity between them that Elena didn't even know she had with him. As much as she loved Stefan, she hadn't quite worked out what his brother was to her. "I know what I'm doing," Bonnie defended.

Elena's shoulders slumped as she saw Stefan's face and noticed him back off, she'd overstepped out of fear of losing her best friend to Damon, she'd felt the magnetism that was the Salvatore's but Bonnie was always there to come back to. She wouldn't be if she was wrapped up in it all alongside her, with Bonnie being one of the only people that could keep her grounded in reality; she could feel that slipping through her fingers.

And, at the back of Elena's mind there was no ignoring Damon's recent lack of time to make innuendos at her and tease Stefan about their complicated friendship, he had no time to when Bonnie and her magic was keeping him so occupied.

"Bonnie, I'm sorry,"

"Did it ever occur to you that Damon is actually helping me? I'm learning more about myself than I ever could on my own, and tonight if Damon wasn't there, that vampire would've killed me,"

"You're right," Elena swallowed, hesitantly looking in Damon's direction. "I shouldn't have,"

"The point is we were right about Uri, it's not over." Stefan said, finally.

Damon resented Bonnie coming to his defence, it wasn't something he was used to or wanted to get used to, he looked out for himself and no one else, he didn't need the witch using her newfound self-empowerment to rescue him because then he'd owe her whether she wanted him to or not.

"I don't actually care what any of you are talking about and to be perfectly honest I could do without the teenage tirades, thank you," Damon downed his drink and left the room, stepping outside.

* * *

Bonnie followed Damon out without even a side glance in Elena and Stefan's direction; she wanted to know what was going on inside of Damon's head. Bonnie opened the front door, the strong breeze taking off in her hair as she stepped out, her eyes settling on Damon.

He sat on the wall, his legs hanging on either side. "Bonnie Bennett, very sexy backbone,"

"Stop, Damon," Bonnie sat on the wall, looking up at the sky after a wistful glance in Damon's direction. "Thank you, for earlier,"

"We already did that," Damon flung his leg over and stood up. "You can go back to trusting Uri now,"

"Don't be like that," Bonnie caught Damon's arm.

"I'm leaving before your infuriating personality drives me to drink, and I'm not talking about whiskey," He nodded at her silence, his eyes on her throat, watching her swallow as she weighed up his words.

Bonnie let go of his arm, but her eyes held his gaze for a long moment and she felt the heat rise beneath her skin. "Are you okay?" Her heart flipped, Damon hadn't answered her question, he'd remained completely silent but she saw the dance in his jaw when his eyes dropped to her lips. "I trust _you_, Damon. And, I'll help you bring Uri down, like I was supposed to in the first place." Bonnie was almost against his chest when she joined him standing, still, he said nothing. "I kept something from you." Her gaze fell to their feet. "When I did the locator spell, I didn't see Lily's location, but I saw a hideout, I saw Uri. I'm sorry,"

Damon ground his teeth, his piercing eyes wide and his skin ashen, anger rippled through him that her trust of Uri trumped her trust of him. He strode to the door and gripped the handle to open it, stopping himself when he heard her heartbeat hammering in his ears.

"And I'm not afraid…not anymore," Bonnie whispered, confident in his ability to hear her even though part of her didn't want him to. She hoped he understood what she meant, because it wasn't anything to do with what they'd just talked about.

Like a speed of light, Damon was standing in front of Bonnie, towering over her, eyes red, veins pulsating, teeth baring themselves but his ploy didn't work because Bonnie didn't flinch, she'd meant what she said, and the monster melted away.

Damon's lips crashed against Bonnie's and her hands instinctively flew up to his chest, but she didn't push him away, she pulled him in, her long, slim fingers tangling his shirt. Her heart pounded against his chest and his kiss said he wanted to be loved. In that moment when the cold left her body and the heat of his mouth replaced it, Bonnie felt like she was made to make his body warm.

He skimmed his hands up her neck, running his fingers into the thick of her hair. Tilting her mouth up to his as she sighed, Damon captured her lips breathlessly, and she revelled in the softness of them, her fingers gripping him closer when he slid his tongue inside to brush tentatively against hers.

The wet of his tongue silencing her fears of being in like with a vampire, she let go and bit on his lip purposely, feeling her body tingle with lust when he sped to the wall, pressing against her it, crushing his body into her as he deepened the kiss.

She opened her eyes as Damon pulled away, his brows pulled together with a wary look growing in his eyes, she felt him tense against her and reached up to softly stroke his cheek, and then moved her hands up his arms slowly, tipping her head up to him, exposing her neck.

Damon felt her trembling against him, her kiss dared him to be more than a vampire, she dared him to be just Damon, _her_ Damon and suddenly he wanted her more than anything, he knew if he wanted he could make their growing attachment about sex, but she saw_ him_ and he didn't want her to lose sight.

His eyes lingered and without a word, without giving himself or Bonnie a chance to be who they'd become used to being, he leaned in slow, pressing his lips against her neck tenderly, brushing and licking, until their lips met again, passionately as he sucked in her lower lip, his skin heating when he heard a gentle groan from her.

Their emotions erupted through their pores, their skin figuratively caught fire and their hands explored, pulling, grabbing and touching. Bonnie was almost completely lifted from her feet as he held her around her slim waist. It was hate, lust, a mutually tender affection and it was truth, the truth of their feelings finally coming to the surface, now that it was out of the bag, there was no putting it back in.

After all, a kiss was never just a kiss and neither of them knew what would happen once it was over.

But there was explosions in the sky that night.

~ End Chapter.


	12. Hostage

A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews guys. I don't know how I feel about Vampire Diaries right now, I'm not sure it's as good as it can be. Though there were parts I liked, Stefan's struggle, his fight to keep control of his own mind, it's what makes him loveable.

Damon on the other hand "Bonnie's been texting me," that just made me randomly smile. Although I think the writers made Damon a little dishonest to maximise his commitment to Elena with the "I wouldn't have done it for you," line, of course he would, that is why he's a vampire now. Stefan may have made him drink blood, but he'd drunk Katherine's blood with every intention of becoming what he is now.

In regards to a message I got from a 'dalena' fan quite a while ago now. I have to admit, I'm a shameless shipper, except for incest no one is exempt. I'll write whoever/whatever interests me and develop the character(s) in situations I haven't seen them in to push myself **as a writer, because I am a writer first and always**. I don't hate Damon and Elena believe it or not, however, I think the writers are doing more than enough with their development and I don't feel the need to add to it. If I do ever get an idea for Damon and Elena, I will write it and dedicate that bad boy to you, kay?

Update: 1/12/11 – I took a month off from Night Crawlers to do Nanowrimo and complete my novel. I was supposed to post this on the 1st of December but I got wrapped up finishing my novel, which still has a little way to go, sorry guys. I can promise that chapter '13' is already half way finished.

And after that huge note, here's another chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

Summary – Bonnie is busy fighting herself, Damon is busy fighting Bonnie and somewhere amidst it all is a hostile takeover and the securing of a…

Chapter Twelve – Hostage

The drive home was silent and although things had been left unsaid between Bonnie and Elena, the witch couldn't focus on anything but the tingling sensation of Damon's lips. She traced her fingers across her bottom lip unknowingly.

"I have a surprise for you," Elena said, breaking into the silence.

Bonnie turned to Elena. "Huh?"

"I have a surprise for you." Elena smiled, sighing when Bonnie smiled back. "Caroline called, she misses us, so I said we'd go over there, have a sleep over. We haven't done that in a while,"

"Great," Bonnie sighed, although whether it was a sigh of relief or frustration was something else she didn't know, as untangling her emotions from on another was proving to be more than difficult since her kiss with Damon.

* * *

Caroline rushed to the door when she heard the bell and pulled it open, her smile bright and inviting as she pulled her best friends into a tight squeeze. "Aww, I've missed you guys,"

Elena and Bonnie stepped in, smiling and chuckling at Caroline's zealousness and well thought out plans for their girl's night, she had movies, mud masks, hot chocolates with marshmallow and good old boy bashing for a starter topic.

"So, Matt and I have been getting on _really_ well," Caroline sung. "And I love how sweet he is,"

"I sense but coming," Elena said, reaching down to grab a hand full of popcorn.

"I feel like there's a part of him that I can't reach, you know," Caroline's shoulder slumped. "I think he's keeping something from me,"

"That doesn't sound like, Matt," Elena said, brows pulling together.

"Elena's right," Bonnie joined, snuggling into Caroline. "Matt's totally into you,"

An upset Caroline for them felt like the world was ending, though the girls had never discussed it, they shared the same view of what the pretty blond meant to them, with just a smile she could wash away your gloominess and replace it with hope. Caroline balanced them and they balanced her, and without each other, life would simply be waking up and going to sleep with little sunshine in between.

"I know, I'm overthinking things," the bright eyed blond said, her eyebrows arching as she smiled and her eyes sparkled with a renewed excitement for having her girls with her. "Anyway, what's going with you guys, I wanna know everything," she giggled.

"Things are great," Elena said, her voice raising an octave.

Caroline watched Elena intently for a few moments and then turned her attention to her best friend. "Bonnie, I can always trust you to tell me the truth, spill,"

"Ugh," Elena pulled the cushion from behind her, hurling it at her perpetually optimistic friend, fighting a smile as Caroline ducked.

Bonnie chuckled, resting her head on Caroline's shoulder. "Elena and Stefan are mystic falls cutest couple,"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Oh, barf. They're so deliciously sweet, I have to check my waistline every time they come toward me,"

The trio broke out laughing and for a passing moment Bonnie felt like herself again, the way she felt during their summer break, before Elena's parents died and everything changed forever, she missed the old her. Who used to have fun, keep Elena and Caroline talking, reassure Matt and calm Tyler down when he got hot under the collar. But, even with all the nostalgia Bonnie had slowly began to realize that she needed to be where she was, and embrace who she was becoming.

She was a witch and that didn't happen to anybody, it happened to people who were meant to do something bigger than even they had dreamed, Bonnie was one of those people. It was time to grow up and stop being scared of everything, stop being scared of Damon, she may have gotten over his teeth but it was the desire to be with him that scared her.

"Was Damon a good lover?" Bonnie blurted, eyes growing when the room fell silent. "I mean,"

Caroline stared at Bonnie slack jawed, uncurling her arm to sit up as her eyes flitted from Elena to Bonnie and back again, Elena underreacted as far as she was concerned, unless she knew something she wasn't sharing with the class, again. "I, uh, he…where'd that come from?"

"I don't know," Bonnie muttered, casting her gaze down. "I really meant to ask you both, you know," she shrugged. "What's it like being with a v…Salvatore?"

Caroline opened her mouth to respond but words didn't follow, instead she studied Bonnie and Elena, one was showing shame and the other was biting down on jealousy. Caroline had clearly missed a hell of a lot since she and Matt happened. "You like older sexy danger guy now?"

"No," Bonnie forced.

"Good," Caroline sighed, sinking back into the sofa. "He's bad news. Any girl would be an idiot to trust him. Damon treated me like a piece of meat, he made me feel worthless…" she trailed off.

Elena and Bonnie locked eyes briefly, and then Bonnie refocused on Caroline, rubbing her hand up and down her friend's arm. "I'm sorry I asked. I didn't mean to dredge up old feelings,"

Caroline smiled. "Don't worry about it, I've moved on. I have Matt now,"

Bonnie's lips became a thin line as she smiled, nodding in response to Caroline's words. "I'm glad you're happy,"

"Me too," Elena said, finally. "We're out of popcorn, I'm going get some more,"

"You better, little Miss Piggy," Caroline giggled, her eyes following Elena as she stood up and took the empty bowl to the kitchen. Once Elena was out of earshot, Caroline turned to Bonnie with a cheeky smile, snaking her arm across the sofa. "You know, if I were marking Damon purely on his skills as a lover, rather than his general inability to be a human being, he'd pass with flying colors."

Bonnie lifted her gaze to Caroline's, feeling a flitter in her chest and a smile twitching at her lips as her friend emptied half a bag of Mike & Ike's into her mouth. "Why are you telling me now?"

"I thought it'd be weird for Elena, you know, what with dating Stefan." Caroline explained, talking around a mouthful of candy. "I wouldn't want to hear the sordid details of my boyfriend's brother's love life, it'd be weird,"

Bonnie nodded.

Caroline placed her hand on Bonnie's, curling their fingers together. She may have been blond but she wasn't stupid, contrary to the myths and even without the slightest clue of all goings on, Caroline knew Bonnie was keeping something to herself and that something made her more transparent than she knew. "Whatever it is, be careful, Bonnie,"

"Caroline, I…" Bonnie clamped her mouth shut as Elena walked in and sat down at their feet.

"What were you going to say?" Caroline asked.

"I was just wondering," Bonnie's eyes scanned the coffee table, and then she reached out and picked up a DVD. "What movies you rented?"

Caroline smiled, her brows arching high as her face lit up. "Titanic,"

"Meh," Bonnie and Elena chorused.

"Uh," Caroline picked up the pile. "Tristan and Isolde," she said, the hope in her eyes fading to frustration as they made faces at the movies she'd picked. "You guys love these movies,"

"Yeah, exactly. And, we've seen them so many times that we could split up the roles and re-enact the whole thing,"

Elena glanced at Bonnie. "Plus, I'm not really in the mood to watch any romance,"

Caroline rested her hand above her heart. "Who doesn't love the whole starred crossed, destined for each other against all odds with tragic consequences and epic epicness, like Romeo and Juliet," she groaned as the girls stared at her in stony silence, they'd made up their minds. "Fine," Caroline said, sighing and letting out all the air in her chest, like a deflated balloon. "Well what then?"

* * *

The girls were cuddled up on the sofa an hour and some into their movie, entwined in one way or another by arms or legs in front of the TV, fully engrossed and hiding their tears behind their hands and hair.

"Papa, it's me, it's Sarah," Sarah from A little Princess cried, hugging her father around the waist as he pushed her from him. "My God papa don't you remember me, it's Sarah remember?"

The trio couldn't contain their emotions as they watched Sarah plead for her father to remember who she was as the wicked woman walked in with the police.

"Papa, please tell them," Sarah screamed.

"This child has no father, take her away," The woman ordered.

"Ugh, such a bitch," Caroline cried with no arguments from the girls.

Sarah was dragged away from her father kicking and screaming for her him, about to be put into the van when he ran out into the rain. "Sarah!"

Sarah ran to him, crying into his shoulder as he lifted her into his arms. "Papa, don't ever leave me," Caroline, Bonnie and Elena said with the orphan child, Sarah.

"I forgot why we hid this," Elena sniffled, wiping her tears.

"I know," Caroline agreed, biting her lip.

"Is it sad that we still cry over this film?" Bonnie asked.

"Everyone's allowed a guilty pleasure, Bon," Caroline reached forward for the remote, turning it off as the credits rolled.

Bonnie paused, her thoughts taking her straight to Damon and their kiss with Caroline's voice over, she knew what her friend meant but she couldn't help thinking that it coincidently applied to what her and Damon were.

Their bond, their feelings, there was a small doubt that it was because of everything that had happened in the passing weeks, maybe it was him teaching her to let go of her inhibitions to be the witch she was capable of, or maybe their closeness was the mere product of a unique situation and nothing more, and in the end when it was all over they'd go back to being nothing more.

Whichever it was would remain a mystery and Bonnie preferred it that way, at least for now, because maybe she wanted him to be her guilty pleasure, and her his.

* * *

Bonnie lay on the edge of the bed wide awake while Caroline settled into slumber in the middle, Elena took her place on the other side; it was a comfort thing they'd gotten used to from young, whoever needed the most love got the middle. Bonnie wasn't going to scare the crap out of her friend with everything that had been happening, and Elena's silence on the matter said she wasn't the only one, that meant Caroline qualified.

Bonnie stared at the ceiling and somehow even in complete silence the witch knew she wasn't the only one awake, she'd grown used to Elena's breathing pattern, and the fact that it was light, almost inaudible with a sigh ever so often made it obvious.

"Tell me," Bonnie said, her eyes still trained on the ceiling.

Elena pulled her ponytail from behind her to rest at the side of her face. "It's nothing,"

"It's something, it's Damon,"

Elena looked across Caroline at Bonnie. "I love Stefan,"

"But you like, Damon,"

"No, I care about him. And, since Katherine, we don't what he's going through, he could lash out at any given moment, and I just…" Elena turned away. "I don't want you to be in the crossfire if it happens,"

Bonnie turned over to face Elena, propping herself on her forearm. "I know you're worried about me, Elena, I do. And, I know you love Stefan, that's why I'm doing all of this, it's why I agreed to help them in the first place, to protect the people I love. I'll always protect you and everyone else I care about, even if it means spending time with Damon."

Elena nodded. "You're my best friend, Bonnie,"

Bonnie reached over and held Elena's hand. "I'll be careful,"

"I know," she sighed.

"Love you," Bonnie whispered.

Elena smiled solemnly. "Love you too,"

Bonnie let go and turned over, facing the window. "Night,"

"Good night,"

* * *

Stefan joined Damon in their dining room, he watched as his brother poured himself a drink and crossed his arms waiting to be noticed.

"I feel a diary entry coming on," Damon said, without turning to Stefan. "Dear Diary, today it took me over an hour to get my hair in this perfect quiff,"

Stefan chuckled. "Ha, that's funny, Damon. What happened today?"

"How about we skip the good guy speech for someone taking that crash course, and put our time to better use, like finding Uri once and for all so I can rip his heart out,"

"Okay."

Damon sipped his whiskey. "Bonnie knows where he is,"

Stefan jerked his head back, brows arching. "Come again,"

Damon clenched his jaw, gulping the rest of the hot liquid. "Yeah, she failed to divulge that fact the first time around,"

"I can't say I'm surprised,"

"What?" Damon snarled.

"Bonnie is a good person, she's pure and so are her intentions. If she thought she could save someone she would at least try to, she must have thought Uri…"

"The point is she was wrong about him. Not everyone can be _saved_, Stefan," Damon swallowed, his words resonating with both them, leaving a long pause that said much more and it had nothing to do with Uri.

"I don't know, Damon. I think if _you_ want to be saved, you can be." Stefan held his brother's eyes, he not only meant what he said but he believed it whole heartedly. "Because of the attack on Bonnie, I didn't get to go to Mrs Flowers, so I'll do that tomorrow, you and Bonnie find Uri's hideout."

"You know, I don't think Uri has found his sister. He had this look in his eyes…"

"The look of desperation," Stefan finished.

"Yeah," Damon muttered, remembering the days of his pathetic quest to free Katherine, he may have wanted Uri dead but he got points for having more of a plausiblereason for his unscrupulous deeds in desperate times, he wanted his family back.

"If we find Lily first, we can bring Uri right to us, we'll be ready for him,"

"If we were to believe him, he wouldn't expect us to look for her,"

"But we don't. He's probably watching our every move. We need to make the right ones,"

"You concentrate on talking to that woman, see if Lily is still here and if an opportunity to get the drop on Uri crops up, I'll take it," Damon glared at his brother, daring him to argue. "This ends, now."

Stefan nodded.

* * *

Bonnie sprung forward, the sweat slicking her hair to her face, and looked around the room. It took a moment or two for her to remember that Caroline had organized a sleepover, and that she wasn't really Lily and she wasn't really leaving her brother alone.

There was something that clicked into place though, the girl who'd attacked her last night was with Lily the night she left Uri behind, she watched her write the note and promised to watch over him, her name was Ava. Bonnie flipped back the sheets and stepped out of bed, grabbing her clothes from the dresser when Elena rushed in.

"Bonnie," Elena paused, her brows drawing together. "What are you doing?"

"I need to get dressed,"

"Why, what's happening?"

"I just figured out who the vampire is, the one that attacked me. I have to tell Damon and Stefan,"

Elena crossed the room to grab her phone from the dresser. "Call,"

Bonnie paused, staring at the phone before she returned to dressing. "I can't, it's better if I see them," she pushed a leg through her jeans.

"Bonnie,"

"Elena, trust me,"

"What should I tell Caroline?"

"I'll make it up to her," Bonnie snuck out of the room towards the door and opened it, stepping back as she almost slammed into Damon, there was a beat and then he smiled at her.

"Morning," He said, resting his hand on the door jamb and frowning when he felt himself being pushed away. "What the hell?"

"That's what I was coming to tell you," Elena said.

Bonnie turned around. "Oh,"

"That doesn't sound good, oh, what?" Damon asked.

"I did a spell," Bonnie smiled sheepishly. "I basically entombed us just in case,"

"Great," Damon said with mock excitement. "Wanna dispel it?"

Bonnie closed her eyes, mumbling something that sounded a lot like Latin and when she opened them again, there was nothing keeping them apart.

Damon straightened himself up, his eyes travelling between Bonnie and Elena. "We need to talk," He said to Bonnie.

Bonnie swallowed. "Me too,"

"Breakfast is almost ready," Caroline called out with a song in her tone.

"Let's go," Bonnie said, stepping out of the door. "Please explain to Caroline,"

Elena sighed, her shoulders slumping. "I will,"

Bonnie closed the door and walked down the drive to Damon's car in silence.

"I think she's actually bored not being in the vampire drama," Damon said, watching Elena over his shoulder.

"Ava,"

"What?" Damon pulled the door open for her and walked around to his side.

"The vampire that attacked me last night, her name is Ava, she was Lily's best friend and she's in love with Uri,"

"That explains the cattiness,"

Bonnie swallowed again as she settled in, pulling the seatbelt across her chest as Damon started the engine, she was your cliché conflicted teen with feelings for a boy she had no business having feelings for, and while she'd reasoned with Caroline's words encouraging a guilty pleasure, now she couldn't forget how he'd made Caroline feel.

"Why'd you do all those things to Caroline?" Bonnie asked, noticing his knuckles blanch as he gripped the steering wheel. She'd quite unfairly, caught him off guard.

Damon turned off the engine and looked at her, really looked at her. "Why the sudden interest?"

"I just, the things you did to Caroline, Elena, and even Stefan…"

"You don't get to hate me for them," Damon said through gritted teeth. "I didn't do those things to you,"

"You hurt them, Damon. They're my friends," Bonnie defended weakly, feeling guilty for using them to distance her feelings for Damon.

"And one day I'll have to answer to them, not you. I never hurt you, not intentionally…Emily," He trailed off, his face twisting.

Bonnie swallowed. "I shouldn't use them as an excuse to…,"

"You have a cute little breakfast to attend and I have this…" Damon looked away and started the engine. "I need you to tell me where Uri is so I can end him,"

"I'm coming with you,"

"I think you should stay here with your friends,"

"I'm not letting you go alone," Bonnie turned her body to him. "Uri is old, multiply that by Ava and he'll be the one doing the ending. If I come, I can at least occupy _her,"_

Damon clamped his jaw tight. "Fine," he breathed, watching her throat as she took off her cardigan and tied up her hair.

* * *

Stefan looked around, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand to attention, it was the same feeling he'd got when he and Elena were at school, it was Uri but his attention was snatched away as woman opened the door. "Hi. Mrs Flowers?"

"Yes," The lady smiled warmly.

Stefan offered an equally warm smile. "I'm looking for a friend of mine; I was told she was staying here,"

"Wow, it's been years since I've had any visitors,"

"So, there's no one by the name of Lily here," He asked, tilting his head as his eyes darted over her shoulder and into the house.

Mrs Flowers forced a smile, keeping her hands perfectly still by her sides. "No, dear, it's just me,"

Stefan stepped closer, with a glint in his eye. "It would be really nice if you invited me in,"

"Oh, come in, dear, don't stay out there," Mrs Flowers stepped aside, allowing him to pass.

"Thank you," Stefan said, waiting for her to step in before closing the door behind him.

Once he was inside, he scoured his surroundings, his eyes drifting towards the stairs. "It must be lonely here, all by yourself," he walked over to her when she didn't respond, there was a strong chance she'd been compelled, if Lily was running from someone, it'd be in her best interest to stay hidden. "Why don't you sit down and relax, you've been on your feet all day,"

She sat down, letting go of a sigh. "I've been rushed off my feet all day,"

"I'm sure," Stefan muttered. "Could I use your bathroom?"

"Of course, it's up the stairs at the end of the hall,"

"Thank you," he nodded, making his way up the stairs to search the rooms, they all looked untouched and once Stefan got to the last room he was growing convinced that Mrs Flowers was either telling the truth or Lily had moved on, but it was as he'd pulled the door to close it that he saw something in his peripheral.

He stepped in and walked over to the bed, picking up the flimsy white material rolled into a ball, he let it fall open and recognized it as Lily's white dress from the old photo Uri had left behind. "Lily," Stefan stared into the mirror opposite the door and saw a bag behind it, turning around he crossed the room and picked it up. "The grill," he mumbled to himself.

Stefan's head snapped towards the door as he heard the front door click shut. He quickly placed the bag back where he found it and put the dress back at the bottom of the bed before rushing down the stairs. "Who was at the door?" He asked, as she moved away.

"Stupid salesman, trying to sell me blinds," She rolled her eyes and returned to her seat.

Stefan kneeled down beside her. "Ma'am, this is very important. Have you been to the Grill at all?"

"No," She frowned, eyes growing suddenly. "Oh, but there was a lovely boy who brought dinner once,"

"What did he look like?"

"He was quite handsome, blond hair, and the bluest eyes, reminded me of my late husband,"

"Matt," Stefan uttered.

* * *

Bonnie caught herself staring at Damon every few minutes, usually he would've made some kind of inappropriate or teasing comment by now but there was nothing, and she feared that she'd ruined things between them.

"We've been driving around in circles, are you sure about this cottage?" Damon asked.

"Yes, I saw it. A little cottage off Mulberry drive,"

"Are you still holding out on me, wasting my time so that your precious vampire can get away?"

"No, Damon," Bonnie growled. "I told you already, I'm helping like I was supposed to. We're in this together,"

"Are we?" Damon watched her with silent anger, without a care for the road ahead or behind, let alone oncoming cars. He wanted to look her in the eyes when she spoke.

"Yes," Bonnie insisted. "I know you're pissed cause I didn't want to kill Uri, I thought there was some kind of connection, turns out that the connection might be to you instead,"

Damon finally turned his attention back on the road. "What does that mean?"

"I saw Uri in 1864, he was here in Mystic Falls in your house, and he was talking to a man. Someone in your family,"

"My family?" How would he even know…?"

"I don't know,"

Damon rolled his eyes. "As if this little tale didn't have enough twists,"

"If knows something we don't, don't you wanna find out? It could be to do with your dad."

"No, actually I don't. My father and I didn't exactly see eye to eye, and I couldn't care less what he was up to,"

Bonnie slumped in her seat. "Ok. Well, that vampire who attacked me knows something Uri doesn't, something about Lily and she kept it from him, I saw it, that's what I was coming to tell you. Her name's Ava, I thought we could use it against her, maybe make Uri question her loyalty,"

"Bonnie Bennett, has the Salvatore charm finally rubbed off on you?" Damon asked, narrowing his eyes on her with a cheeky grin pulling at the left side of his mouth.

He was smiling again, for that she was grateful. "I just want this to be over, I want him gone,"

"Finally something we agree on," Damon muttered, pulling up in front of a broken down cottage, surrounded in weeds and bush.

"This is it," Bonnie said incredulously, as though she hadn't trusted in her dream until now.

* * *

"I can't get to the phone right now, you know what to do," Matt's voicemail repeated.

"Argh," Stefan growled, hitting the redial one more time with the intention of leaving a message this time around.

"Hey,"

"Matt," Stefan turned to the woman, making sure she was still sitting down. "Do you know Lily?"

"Um, no, who's Lily?"

"Matt this is really important. Do you have a new friend?"

"I can't talk about that, and you really shouldn't ask me either, it's no one's business who I hang out with,"

Stefan closed his eyes, who was it that Matt had been in the middle of this the whole time and none of them picked up on it? He sighed. "Listen to me, Matt. I need you stay at work until I come get you, can do that?"

"Uh, why?"

"Matt, can you do that?" Stefan said with more authority than before.

"What's going on? Is Elena okay?"

Stefan bit back a growl. "I can't say over the phone, just, will you wait for me to get there?"

"Ok, man,"

Stefan ended the call and speed dialled Elena's phone but it just rung out.

* * *

Caroline wandered into her bedroom looking through her draws and growing more frustrated by the minute, Bonnie had bailed on their weekend together and now she couldn't find her damn money that she always hid for emergencies, needing pizza was an emergency.

Caroline let go of a frustrated growl and turned to walk out of the room when she heard the buzzing of Elena's phone on top of her dresser, rolling her eyes, she doubled back and saw Stefan's name on the home screen. "Oh, I don't think so," she said, turning off Elena's phone. "First Bonnie," she whined under her breath as left the room.

"Did you find it?" Elena asked, curled up on the sofa.

"Nope, but I found my mom's secret stash," Caroline smiled, wriggling her eyebrows.

"What are we having?" Elena asked with a cheeky smile that matched her friend's.

"Something that doesn't include burning down the kitchen," Caroline smiled.

* * *

Stefan put the cell back in his pocket and spun around, catching Mrs Flowers' wrist just before she filled him up with vervain. He pushed her away. "You're not as inconspicuous as you think you are," Stefan said.

Uri stepped out of the kitchen with an irritatingly wide smile, flipping his long winter coat back as he dug his hands in his pant pockets. "I was sure that would work, don't you have salesmen in this country trying to sell you blinds and kitchen appliances every other day? England is overrun with them,"

"I knew you were following me, I've gotten used to that stalker vibe you have," Stefan smirked.

"You're starting to joy this little game, aren't you?" Uri goaded. "Although, I think calling me a stalker is rather rude. I'm more of an observer," Uri lurched at Stefan, slamming him into the huge grandfather clock behind him. "You've hurt my feelings,"

Stefan breathing was heavy and his head was feeling light after his head connected with glass and wood. "I'm sorry, Uri, if I'd known how sensitive you were,"

Uri chuckled, palming Stefan's face and ramming it into the wood. "You might have noticed how my plan fell to shit, mostly because of my overbearing mate, Ava. I can't see Bonnie wanting to help me now, especially after I roughed up tall dark and bloody cheeky, so, plan B."

"What's plan B?"

"I have Elena, my friend,"

Stefan's smile faded. "I don't believe you," His heart sank when he remembered calling Elena's phone, God knows how long it had been off, how long she'd been in need of help and he wasn't there to protect her.

"She smells divine. You see, Stef," Uri tightened his grip on Stefan's throat. "The greatest motivation for any kind of revenge is love, there is no greater emotion. My family is my motivation, so you my friend are out of luck, because I am always one step ahead, always have been,"

Stefan tilted his head, grabbing Uri's wrists with just as much strength. "One step isn't good enough," he breathed out, coarsely.

"And why is that mate?"

"Because it means you can be overtaken," Stefan looked over Uri's shoulder smiling, and landed on his feet a moment later when Uri fell to his knees with Anna standing behind him, holding the vervain that was meant for Stefan. "I have plan B's too," Stefan's fist rocketed into the side of Uri's face, then he kneeled over the vampire and landed another one for good measure.

"I'm guessing he wanted to say shit but was too stunned," Anna chuckled.

Stefan stepped back, taking in a breath of relief. "Thank you,"

"You're welcome," Anna said. "Um, you're good now, right?"

Stefan flashed a curt grin. "Yeah, you can go," He watched as she blurred out of the house and focused his attention on Mrs Flowers. "Are you okay?"

Mrs Flowers stood up, turning on the porch light. "He said I couldn't scream, he said I had to watch and then turn on the light if Team Uri lost,"

"Who Uri?"

"No," Mrs Flower cried.

Stefan stumbled back as the door splintered wide open with a fist, bringing his forearm up to cover his face to block the flying fragments, the force of the blow sending Mrs Flowers skidding along the floor.

"Can anyone join?"

Stefan moved his hand away from his face, and had his heart been beating it would've stopped at the sight of the man in front of him. "Orlando,"

Orlando unhooked a large picture from the wall and smashed it across Stefan's body, walking over to him as he went flying, then he broke off the wood. "Uri, soimpulsive," he launched plunged it with all his might into Stefan's stomach. "I'm always cleaning up after him,"

Stefan writhed in pain as Orlando checked Uri for wounds, letting out a laugh that would unnerve even the strongest of people when found Uri pretty much unharmed.

Orlando walked back, kneeling beside the younger Salvatore and lifted his head, spinning it vigorously to the left and smiling with satisfaction when he heard the crack, then he flipped the boy over his shoulder, carrying him out of the house.

End Chapter

* * *

The End is nigh. What do you think of Orlando? Is Uri still creepy and charming at the same time? Should Elena get in involved regardless? Did Caroline do the wrong thing by turning off Elena's phone? What about Bonnie and Damon, are they satisfying your 'bamon' thirst?


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